Michael Stewart, 57, and Anthony Stewart, 60, have denied murdering Anthony Littler, who prosecutors allege was attacked in North London in 1984 during an alleged spree of violence
Two brothers have appeared in court charged with murdering a civil servant during a campaign of group violence targeting solitary gay men 42 years ago. Michael Stewart, 57, and Anthony Stewart, 60, were just 15 and 18 when they allegedly attacked Anthony Littler as he made his way home in East Finchley, north London, on 1 May 1984.
Shortly after he was assaulted, Michael Stewart allegedly rang for an ambulance from a telephone box but a hunt for an injured man was abandoned after he ended the call.
Thirty minutes later, Mr Littler was discovered by members of the public lying in a pool of blood in an alleyway having sustained a “catastrophic” brain injury from being beaten with blunt instruments.
The identity of the initial 999 caller had remained unknown, but jurors heard Michael Stewart had subsequently admitted to someone that he had “called the old bill”.
Years following the killing, Michael Stewart had allegedly confessed his guilt to a girlfriend and even revealed to her where it took place.
Prosecutor John Price KC said the defendants’ younger brother Daniel, then aged 10, knew his brothers had made a “hobby” of attacking lone men in public.
The brothers had also separately “confessed” to Daniel what they had done to 45 year old Mr Littler, jurors heard. Kicking off their Old Bailey trial on Monday, Mr Price revealed that Mr Littler was a real ale aficionado who had spent the evening before his death at a pub in Carshalton, Surrey, attending a meeting of the Ponds Branch of The Society for the Preservation of Beer from the Wood.
After travelling back to London, he arrived at East Finchley Tube station at 12.18am on 1 May and strolled down a narrow alleyway, where he was assaulted, the jury heard.
Mr Price informed the jurors that the attackers lay in wait and “ambushed” Mr Littler, striking him over the head immediately, despite no evidence they knew their victim.
He suggested they might have panicked and fled the scene without rifling through his pockets when they realised from the amount of blood that they had killed him.
None of Mr Littler’s personal belongings were missing. He still had his credit cards, £80 in cash and his briefcase.
Local resident Edward Dyer had been out walking his dog and heard a loud shout which “sounded like a cry of pain”, the jury was told.
Approximately half an hour later, Annalieze and James Hainge discovered Mr Littler injured in the alleyway as they walked home from the station.
In a statement, Mr Hainge said he saw what he thought was a “bundle of clothes” before realising it was a man lying face down in what appeared to be a pool of blood.
Mrs Hainge dashed to call emergency services from a phone box while her husband stayed with Mr Littler.
The victim sustained two skull fractures and a “catastrophic brain injury” which proved fatal at the scene.
Mrs Hainge’s emergency call had been the second 999 alert from a public telephone box, jurors heard.
At 12.22am, an unidentified caller had contacted an operator requesting an “ambulance – quick”.
He allegedly told her: “I can’t stop, just get an ambulance to East Finchley station, there’s a man hurt outside the station.”
London Ambulance Service logged the caller stating the casualty was “bleeding heavily” before hanging up.
The call handler noted the male appeared “abnormally concerned over the matter”, was “well spoken” and possessed a “young sounding voice”.
Station personnel searched the vicinity but discovered no sign of an injured man, so the incident was cancelled, the court heard.
Mr Price informed jurors that considering the timing of the call, the unidentified person must have been present when Mr Littler was assaulted.
He said: “He gave imprecise if not wholly inaccurate information about where Mr Littler was and then he put the phone down, rather than give the operator the detail she needed.
“The prosecution submits that 42 years later, the evidence now available shows that it was Michael Stewart who had made that first 999 call at 12.22am and then hung up without giving the operator his name or the information she needed.” Mr Price said Michael and Anthony Stewart had been amongst a group of young males who set upon Mr Littler with “blunt force weapons” in the alleyway.
At the time of the killing, the defendants had been residing at different addresses in the East Finchley area, with Anthony employed as a binman, the court heard.
Both defendants had rejected any involvement and insisted they were elsewhere, with Anthony Stewart offering a “demonstrably false alibi”, Mr Price said.
He told jurors: “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.
“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.”
Jurors were told the defendants’ younger brother Daniel would be giving evidence that he knew about their activities and that both brothers had separately confessed to what they did to the man in the alley.
Michael Stewart, from New Barnet, and Anthony Stewart, from East Finchley, have denied murder.
The Old Bailey trial continues.