A Norwegian mother, Ellen Kongsnes, has spoken out after her son Johannes Natland was arrested in a hotel room in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, and revealed to be working as a hitman, in what she describes as every parent's worst social media nightmare. Natland had left the family's home in Stavanger, south-west Norway, on 17 March last year, telling his mother he was going to play football and would return that evening, but instead disappeared for several days before contacting her by text.

Kongsnes said her anxiety grew as the days passed without her son coming home, and she tried various ways to persuade him to return. He was later found in a hotel room in Huddersfield, where he was arrested by police in possession of a firearm and £2,000 in cash, having reportedly been recruited as a hitman. The case has been highlighted as an example of how young people can be drawn into serious criminality, seemingly through contacts made online.