Two brothers have been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Anthony Littler, a 45-year-old civil servant who was killed in an alleyway in East Finchley, north London, more than 42 years ago.

Michael Stewart, 57, and Anthony Stewart, 60, were convicted of murder following a trial at the Old Bailey in June. On Friday 10 July, Anthony Stewart was sentenced to a minimum term of 15 years — the judge noting he was believed to have delivered the fatal blow — while Michael Stewart received a minimum term of 10 years. The brothers were aged 15 and 18 at the time of the attack on 1 May 1984.

Littler, an executive officer at HM Customs and Excise, had spent the evening at a meeting of the Society for the Preservation of Beers from the Wood at a pub in Carshalton, Surrey. He left friends at closing time and travelled home by train, arriving at East Finchley station shortly after midnight. As he walked down a narrow footpath beside the railway line — a shortcut towards his flat — he was struck twice over the head with blunt weapons.

He was found half an hour later with two skull fractures and a catastrophic brain injury. He never regained consciousness. His briefcase, credit cards and £80 in cash were still on him; nothing was stolen.

The prosecution told the court the brothers had a history of targeting men they believed to be gay, describing it as a "habit or hobby" that they "enjoyed doing." Michael Stewart had allegedly boasted about the killing to others, and the court heard the brothers referred to the attack as "queer bashing." The judge, Mrs Justice Cutts, noted there was no evidence that Anthony Littler was gay.

The case went cold despite appeals on BBC One's Crimewatch and ITV's Police 5. An initial investigation closed in January 1985. Further inquiries in 1993 and between 2012 and 2015 resulted in no charges.

The breakthrough came in 2013 when the brothers' younger sibling, Daniel Stewart — who was 10 years old at the time of the murder — came forward to police following a family argument. He told detectives that his brothers had confessed to the killing and had boasted about it within days of the attack. Police reopened the investigation in 2022.

A covert operation, codenamed Operation Snowpitch, began in September 2023. Detectives placed listening devices in Michael Stewart's home and car, and on Anthony Stewart's car. Undercover officers were deployed to befriend Michael Stewart, with one officer building a close enough relationship that Michael later asked him for a lift home from the police station following his arrest. In the car, Michael made further incriminating statements, which were recorded.

Sentencing the brothers, Mrs Justice Cutts said: "I am quite sure your group was lying in wait for a victim. You targeted that decent, honest individual and took his life.