Brothers Sentenced for Murdering Man They Believed Was Gay
Anthony Littler's 1984 murder went unsolved for nearly 30 years, until the brothers' younger sibling came forward with new information.
Two brothers in the United Kingdom have been sentenced to life in prison, with minimum terms totaling 25 years, for the 1984 murder of a man they believed was gay amid a series of similar bias-motivated attacks.
On July 10, High Court Judge Mrs Justice Cutts sentenced Anthony Stewart, 60, who delivered the fatal blow to 45-year-old Anthony Littler, to a minimum of 15 years in prison. His brother, Michael Stewart, 57, who acted as a lookout, received a minimum term of 10 years, according to Sky News.
The brothers, who were 18 and 15 at the time of the murder, denied any involvement but were convicted by a London jury on June 1. Prosecutors told jurors that the brothers had made a “hobby” of targeting lone men they believed were gay.
“You will hear that this was not the only time that Michael Stewart, Anthony Stewart and others associated with them used violence on a solitary man they did not know, in a public place,” prosecutor John Price KC told jurors. “By the spring of 1984, it is alleged by the prosecution that for quite a while this had been a habit or hobby of theirs. It was something they enjoyed doing. They had begun by targeting men whom they thought might be homosexual men.”
Littler, a civil servant, was attacked in North London’s East Finchley neighborhood on May 1, 1984, while walking home from a meeting of the Society for the Preservation of Beers from the Wood. He was struck twice in the head with blunt weapons.
He suffered two skull fractures and a “catastrophic brain injury.” His body was discovered about half an hour after the attack in an alleyway near the East Finchley Tube station. His briefcase, credit cards, and about 80 British pounds in cash remained on him.
The case went unsolved for decades, despite police efforts and appeals for information on BBC Crimewatch and ITV’s Police 5. In 2013, following a family falling-out, the brothers’ younger sibling, Daniel, came forward with new information. Daniel had been 10 at the time of the murder. Police reopened the case in 2022 and began covertly investigating Anthony and Michael Stewart.
At trial, jurors heard that the brothers had told police in 1984 that they were home at the time of the attack and never used the alleyway where Littler’s body was found. Daniel, however, testified that his brothers had confessed to killing Littler and boasted about “queer bashing.”
Jurors were also told that Michael Stewart had confessed to a girlfriend and shown her the crime scene.
During sentencing, Justice Cutts described Littler as a “quiet, kind and gentle man who lived a quiet, decent and honest life.”
“This was no impulsive attack,” she told the Stewart brothers. “I am quite sure that your group was lying in wait in and around the alley for a victim, someone to attack and to rob. This is what I am satisfied you were in the habit of doing.
“You were not planning to rob just anyone,” she continued. “You were targeting a group in particular, and that was homosexual men. You were not just threatening violence, you were perpetrating it,” she added. “There is no evidence that Mr Littler was homosexual, but he was a lone man in an area you frequented to target homosexual men, and I have no doubt that he was targeted for that reason.”
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