Two years of imprisonment for making terrorist threats, among other offences

Over a six-week period, a young woman sent a total of 16 letters and emails containing threats to 12 different public and private institutions. These included general threats to kill "any possible targets." Two of the letters also contained a white powder. The emails included GPS coordinates linked to locations associated with the recipients.

The District Court found that the threats to kill were made with terrorist intent, and the woman was convicted of 16 counts of making terrorist threats. She was also convicted of unlawful possession of a weapon in a public place. Both the District Court and the Court of Appeal imposed a sentence of three years of imprisonment.

The Supreme Court found that the threats are not to be regarded as 16 separate offences, but rather as a single continuous criminal act, and that the appropriate sentence was two years of  imprisonment.

The Supreme Court emphasised that, even if a terrorist threat is not perceived as particularly credible, it nonetheless constitutes a highly harmful act to society. For a single incident, the sentence would have been seven to eight months of imprisonment. Since a total of 16 threats were made, and that some were repeated and escalated towards certain recipients, the starting point for sentencing was up to three years of imprisonment. The woman’s confession gave a reduction in sentence. The fact that her actions appeared to be linked to her mental health did not justify a further reduction. In cases of this nature, personal circumstances carry limited weight when determining the appropriate penalty.

This judgment clarifies the sentencing level for threats to kill made with terrorist intent. It also provides guidance on when multiple threats should be treated as a single or multiple criminal offences.

Read the judgment from the Supreme Court (Norwegian only) (PDF)

Area of law: Criminal law. Section 134 of the Penal Code.

Key paragraphs: 19, 22–23, 32, 41–42, 52–55

Justices: Bull, Arntzen, Steinsvik, Sæther, Poulsen