Norwegian teen faces 45 years in UK prison over alleged murder plot

A 19-year-old Norwegian man has been held in a high-security British prison for nearly a year on charges of conspiracy to commit murder, with legal experts warning he risks a 45-year sentence under UK law—despite Norway’s failure to seek his extradition.

The Stavanger resident, who was 18 at the time of his arrest, was detained in Huddersfield last winter after British police found two firearms in his hotel room, Dagbladet reports. Norwegian authorities had alerted UK police to a potential contract killing linked to the Swedish criminal network Foxtrot, but the intended target remains unidentified.

Legal professionals, including professor Mads Andenæs and defence lawyer Farid Bouras, argue the case should have been prosecuted in Norway, where the plot allegedly originated. “It is incomprehensible to me that Norwegian authorities have not secured his return,” Bouras told the newspaper. “He is a Norwegian citizen. Others involved in this case are being tried in Norway.”

The teen, who had no prior criminal record, was undergoing psychiatric treatment in Norway before his arrest. Court documents from a related Norwegian trial reveal he was pressured into the assignment, with one co-defendant testifying it took “two hours to convince him.” Since July, he has been detained in Belmarsh high-security prison and later Thameside prison in London, where he has reportedly faced violent attacks at least twice.

Andenæs, a former law professor at King’s College London, warned that UK courts apply a lower burden of proof in conspiracy-to-murder cases compared to Norway. “This case began in Norway and should be tried there,” he said. Bouras added that his client—who was a minor, mentally ill, and in a “particularly vulnerable” state when recruited—faces systemic risks, including potential exploitation akin to “modern slavery.”

Norwegian prosecutors confirmed they had not requested extradition. “The UK Crown Prosecution Service chose to proceed with the case themselves,” said state prosecutor Geir Evanger. The teen’s trial begins today at London’s Old Bailey, the UK’s central criminal court.