Two brothers who made a “hobby” of attacking men they believed to be gay have been convicted of murder 42 years after bludgeoning a real ale enthusiast to death in a north London alleyway — in a case cracked only after their younger brother came forward following a family falling out.
Michael Stewart, 57, and Anthony Stewart, 60, were just 15 and 18 years old when they ambushed Anthony Littler, a 45-year-old civil servant, as he walked home through a narrow alley near East Finchley Tube station in the early hours of 1 May 1984. Mr Littler had spent the evening at a real ale meeting with the Ponds Branch of the Society for the Preservation of Beer from the Wood in Carshalton, Surrey, before taking the train home. He never made it. The brothers struck him twice over the head with a blunt weapon and fled, leaving him in a pool of blood with his briefcase, £80 in cash and his credit cards still on him.
A passing couple, Annalieze and James Hainge, found Mr Littler mortally wounded half an hour later as they walked home from the station. He died at the scene with two skull fractures and what medics described as a “catastrophic brain injury.” Minutes after the attack, an anonymous caller had rung 999 from a phone box asking for an ambulance at East Finchley station, saying there was “a man hurt outside the station” and that he was “bleeding heavily” — before hanging up without giving his name or precise location. Station staff searched the area, found nothing and stood the incident down. The Old Bailey heard that the prosecution is satisfied the caller was Michael Stewart himself.
The brothers lied to police during door-to-door enquiries, claiming they were at home at the time of the attack. No meaningful leads emerged despite an appeal on BBC’s Crimewatch and ITV’s Police 5, and the case remained unsolved for decades. The breakthrough came on the 29th anniversary of Mr Littler’s death, when the brothers’ younger sibling Daniel — who had been ten years old at the time — went 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.”
Michael Stewart had also confessed to his girlfriend and gone as far as showing her the alleyway where he had carried out the attack, the court heard. Prosecuting barrister John Price KC told the Old Bailey that by the spring of 1984 the Stewart brothers and their associates had established a pattern — making a “hobby” of targeting lone men they believed to be gay. Mr Littler, who gave no indication he was gay and was not known to the brothers, is thought to have simply crossed their path at the wrong moment. The prosecution suggested the brothers may have panicked and fled without taking his belongings when they saw the scale of the blood, realising they had killed him.
Both defendants declined to give evidence and denied any involvement. The jury deliberated for less than three hours before returning guilty verdicts.
Senior Crown prosecutor Samantha Yelland said the case had presented significant challenges, including the loss of key evidence and the potential murder weapon, and that unusual covert tactics had been deployed in the absence of other evidence. “I’m so pleased that we’ve managed to get justice all these years later for Anthony Littler,” she said. “It’s never right that someone dies in these circumstances, in particular in a hate crime. I’m glad that we’ve been able to get justice for his family.”
Detective Chief Inspector Neil John of Scotland Yard said: “Anthony’s life was suddenly cut short when he was killed in a brutal attack by two teenagers who we now know had a clear propensity for the most sickening kind of violence. They targeted Anthony because he was alone, defenceless and walking down a dark alley in which they knew no-one would see them. They lay in wait for someone to cross their path, and tragically for Anthony he became their unsuspecting victim.”
Michael and Anthony Stewart were remanded into custody following the verdicts and will be sentenced on 3 July.
