Brothers jailed for life 42 years after killing civil servant in 1984 East Finchley 'hate crime' ambush

Forty-two years after civil servant Anthony Littler was beaten to death in a dark alleyway in East Finchley, two brothers have been jailed for his murder. Michael Stewart, 57, and Anthony Stewart, 60, were sentenced at the Old Bailey on 10 July 2026 to life imprisonment with minimum terms of 10 years and 15 years respectively. The pair were aged 15 and 18 when they ambushed the 45-year-old just after midnight on 1 May 1984.

A quiet life, a brutal end

Anthony Littler, a 6ft 4ins civil servant described by friends as a 'gentle giant', lived alone in East Finchley and was devoted to real ale. On his last evening he had crossed London for a meeting of the Society for the Preservation of Beers from the Wood at a pub in Carshalton, Surrey. He said goodbye to friends at closing time, travelled back across London, and stepped off a train at East Finchley station. Within two minutes of entering a narrow footpath beside the railway line, he was struck twice over the head with a blunt weapon. Nothing was stolen; his briefcase, 80 pounds in cash and credit cards were found with him. Half an hour later, members of the public discovered him lying in a pool of blood with a catastrophic brain injury. He never regained consciousness.

He was a bit like a big brother. He used to push me around in my pram. He was always there at family birthdays, and he was always there at Christmas.

A 'hobby' of targeting lone men

The Old Bailey heard that by the spring of 1984, the Stewart brothers and their friends had made a 'hobby' of seeking out lone men they believed to be gay. On the night of the killing, Michael Stewart anonymously called for an ambulance from a phone box minutes after the attack, then hung up, causing the search for an injured man to be called off. During initial house-to-house inquiries, both brothers claimed they had been at home. Anthony Stewart, then working as a binman, insisted he never used the alley. Despite appeals on BBC Crimewatch and ITV's Police 5, the case went cold for decades.

Anthony's life was abruptly cut short when he was killed in a brutal attack by two teenagers who, as we now know, had a clear propensity for the most repugnant type of violence.

The breakthrough: a family confession

The case was reopened in 2022 to assess whether viable new lines of inquiry existed. Detectives discovered that Daniel Stewart, the younger brother of Michael and Anthony who was 10 at the time of the murder, had come forward to police on the 29th anniversary of Littler's death, following a family falling-out. He told officers his older brothers had confessed to the killing and bragged about involvement in 'queer bashing' attacks on lone men. Separately, Michael Stewart had admitted his guilt to a girlfriend roughly eight or nine years after the crime and even showed her the spot near East Finchley station.

That's where we killed him.

Undercover operation unlocks the case

Without DNA or forensic evidence to rely on, the Metropolitan Police launched a covert operation targeting the brothers. Officers bugged Michael Stewart's home and car, placed listening devices on Anthony Stewart's car, and deployed two undercover officers into Michael's life. Anthony Stewart was a man of few words, but Michael proved to have a 'loose tongue' and was recorded bragging about what he had done in 1984. The surveillance gathered enough evidence to charge both men.

Sentencing and aftermath

Both defendants, from north London, declined to give evidence at trial and denied involvement. A jury at the Old Bailey found them guilty, and on 10 July 2026 they were sentenced. Michael Stewart received a life sentence with a minimum of 10 years; his older brother Anthony received life with a minimum of 15 years. Detective Chief Inspector Neil John said the brothers had targeted Littler because he was 'alone, defenceless and walking down a dark alley', and that they knew they were unlikely to be seen committing the 'horrendous' crime. 'Tragically for Anthony, he became their innocent victim,' John added.