A foreign national was charged with violence, threats and drug dealing. Then he walked straight into the Norwegian child welfare services and took on shifts caring for vulnerable children. It did not take long before he threatened a 17-year-old boy.
The case reveals a gap in Norwegian working life: employers who hire individuals to work closely with vulnerable children and young people have no means of checking foreign criminal records.
The man in his thirties stood charged in Sweden with having struck a man in the face outside a grocery store, and subsequently with having threatened to kill him. The same indictment included possession of cannabis, 180 Tramadol tablets and 392 Tapentadol tablets, as well as driving under the influence.
The Swedish prosecution authority also had an additional charge of drug dealing in an organised form. The evidence included surveillance video and chat logs.
Court hearings in 2021 and 2022 were postponed. When Swedish police visited his address in 2024, he was gone. The Nordic Arrest Warrant was executed at Flesland in January 2025. At a court hearing, the man claimed that he was not aware of the legal proceedings in Sweden. Hordaland District Court did not believe him.
Given shifts after arrest
Despite the arrest warrant and the arrest, the man was given three shifts as a temporary worker at a child welfare institution in Bergen in the summer of 2025. The care provider that operates the institution states to BT that permanent environmental therapists reacted to his “behaviour and attitudes”, and that he was therefore not used further.
The reactions did not concern the 17-year-old who was later the injured party in the criminal case.
In January 2026, the man was charged with having threatened the boy. The police are investigating whether the threats were related to a drug settlement. The man has admitted to threats and possession of smaller quantities of narcotics.
Police certificate – but only from Norway
The man submitted a police certificate when he commenced in a separate position in Bergen municipality in September 2024. The certificate was Norwegian – and thus did not capture the charges in Sweden.
Acting municipal director Bernt Tungodden confirms that Norwegian police certificates do not contain information from other countries. He writes to BT that the municipality has no legal basis to require a police certificate from other countries, and acknowledges that this is problematic.
The care provider also calls for an arrangement whereby police certificates are shared between countries – “at a minimum between the Nordic countries”, according to BT.
The man is still employed by Bergen municipality.
– At present, the person is in an employment relationship with the municipality, but he is not in active service, says acting municipal director Bernt Tungodden.