Overview
- An Old Bailey jury found Michael Stewart and Anthony Stewart guilty and sentenced them to life imprisonment with minimum terms of 10 years and 15 years after less than three hours of deliberation on Friday, July 10, 2026.
- The victim, civil servant Anthony Littler, was ambushed and fatally bludgeoned while walking home in East Finchley on May 1, 1984, and the case went cold after initial 1984 inquiries produced no decisive leads.
- The breakthrough began when the brothers’ younger sibling, Daniel, came forward on the 29th anniversary of the killing to say his older brothers had confessed and boasted about 'queer bashing', prompting police to reopen the file.
- When detectives reopened the investigation in 2022 they used covert measures, including bugging the brothers’ cars and Michael’s home, and recordings of Michael boasting about the 1984 attack formed key evidence at trial.
- Prosecutors said the killing formed part of a spree targeting lone men the group believed to be gay; the conviction brings delayed accountability for Littler’s family and could encourage renewed reviews of other cold cases using modern investigative tools.