Michael Stewart and Anthony Stewart were just 15 and 18 when they attacked Anthony Littler in north London – they have finally been brought to justice 42 years on
Two brothers have been jailed for life after killing a civil servant 42 years ago during a spree of gratuitous violence against men they believed to be gay.
Michael Stewart, 57, and Anthony Stewart, 60, were handed minimum terms of 10 years and 15 years respectively today. They were just 15 and 18 when they set upon Anthony Littler as he walked home in East Finchley, north London, on May 1 1984.
The victim, a real ale enthusiast, had spent the evening at a pub in Carshalton, Surrey, at a meeting of the Ponds Branch of The Society for the Preservation of Beer from the Wood.
He was ambushed and left for dead as he walked home down a narrow alleyway from East Finchley Tube station at 12.18am.
Mr Littler, 45, was hit twice over the head with a blunt weapon and was found mortally wounded half an hour later, still with his briefcase, £80 cash and credit cards.
Within minutes of the attack, Michael Stewart had anonymously called for an ambulance from a phone box, but a search for an injured man was called off after he hung up.
Half an hour later, Mr Littler was found by members of the public lying in a pool of blood having suffered a “catastrophic” brain injury.
By the spring of 1984 the Stewart siblings and their friends had made a “hobby” of targeting lone men who they believed to be gay, jurors were told.
But during house-to-house police inquiries, they claimed to be at home at the time of the attack on Mr Littler, with binman Anthony Stewart insisting he never used the alley.
Despite an appeal on BBC Crimewatch and ITV’s Police 5, no meaningful leads were identified and the case remained unsolved for decades, the Old Bailey heard.
The breakthrough came on the 29th anniversary of Mr Littler’s death, when the defendants’ younger brother Daniel, who was 10 at the time, came forward to police after a family falling-out.
He told officers his older brothers had confessed to the killing and boasted about being involved in “queer bashing”, jurors were told.
Years after the killing, Michael Stewart had also admitted his guilt to a girlfriend and even showed her where it happened, the court had heard.
In 2022, police reopened the investigation and deployed covert investigative techniques against the brothers, bugging their cars and Michael’s home.
Anthony was said to be a man of few words but Michael proved to have a “loose tongue” and bragged about what he did in 1984, the court heard.
Both defendants, from north London, who declined to give evidence, had denied involvement.
An Old Bailey jury deliberated for less than three hours to find them guilty of murder.
In a televised sentencing today, the senior judge said: “Anthony Littler was in 1984 aged 45. He was, according to those who knew him, a quiet, kind and gentle man. He lived a quiet, decent and honest life. He worked as a civil servant and lived alone in East Finchley.”
She told the defendants: “This was not an impulsive attack, I am quite sure your group was lying in wait for a victim, someone to attack and rob.
While there was no evidence Mr Littler was gay, the judge noted the defendants had targeted gay men to rob, observing: “1984 was a different time and in many respects a different place.”
In a statement, Mr Littler’s cousin Patricia McClure said: “I am particularly angry these murderers have had 42 years of freedom and they picked Anthony at random for fun, while I am glad that people have been found accountable.”
Mr Littler was “kind” with a “great sense of humour” but did not talk much about his job because of the Official Secrets Act, she said.
