More than four decades after the crime, a court in London has finally passed sentence over one of the capital's long unresolved killings. At the Old Bailey, a judge handed down punishment for the murder of Anthony Littler, closing a chapter that had remained open since the middle of the nineteen eighties.
The victim was a civil servant who lost his life in a sudden and brutal attack. Anthony Littler was beaten to death as he walked home in London in 1984. What made the case especially disturbing was its context, as the killing was described as part of a spree of violence directed against gay men during that period.
The proceedings centred on the brothers who beat Littler to death, who were brought before the court to answer for what happened all those years ago. The hearing at the Old Bailey drew the long history of the case to a formal conclusion, as the judge moved to pass sentence in open court.
Delivering the sentence, the judge addressed Michael Stewart directly. For the murder of Anthony Littler, Stewart was sentenced to detention at His Majesty's pleasure for life. The judge set out that he must serve a minimum term of ten years, reduced by the four hundred and ninety one days he had already spent on remand.
By the court's own calculation, that arithmetic meant Stewart must serve eight years and two hundred and thirty nine days before he becomes eligible for release on parole. The judge was careful to stress that eligibility is not the same as release, and that whether he is freed at that point will be a matter for the Parole Board to decide.
The judge also spelled out that the sentence would follow Stewart for the rest of his life. If he is released, he will remain on licence indefinitely, subject to recall. For a killing that reached back to 1984, the sentencing marked a long delayed measure of accountability, delivered in a courtroom more than forty years after Anthony Littler was killed.