Michael Stewart, 57, and Anthony Stewart, 60, were aged 15 and 18 respectively at the time of the alleged murder on May 1, 1984. Anthony Littler was killed near his home in Finchley after returning from a pub meeting in Carshalton, Surrey. He died at the scene from a catastrophic brain injury caused by being bludgeoned with blunt weapons, resulting in two skull fractures. Edward Dyer heard a loud shout that sounded like a cry of pain while walking his dog near the scene.
Anthony Littler was found lying in a pool of blood in an alleyway by Annalieze and James Hainge around half an hour after the attack. James Hainge described initially seeing what appeared to be a bundle of clothes. Annalieze Hainge called emergency services from a phone box after finding Anthony Littler, which was the second 999 alert from a public phone kiosk. The first 999 alert was at 12:22 am from an unknown person asking for an ambulance.
The prosecution alleges that Michael Stewart called for an ambulance from a nearby phone box after the assault but hung up, leading to a search being called off. Michael Stewart later confessed to someone that he had called the old bill, revealing the identity of the first 999 caller. Michael Stewart also allegedly admitted his guilt to a girlfriend years after the killing and showed her the location where it happened.
Prosecutors claim the defendants' younger brother Daniel, then aged 10, knew his brothers had made a hobby of attacking solitary men in public. The brothers separately confessed to Daniel what they had done to Anthony Littler. Prosecutors claim the attack on Anthony Littler was part of a spate of violence by the teens, who allegedly targeted lone homosexual men.
The defense's arguments and the brothers' pleas to the murder charges have not been detailed in available reports. It remains unclear what evidence, beyond alleged confessions, links the brothers to the murder, or why the initial ambulance search was called off after Michael Stewart hung up. The motives or circumstances behind the alleged hobby of attacking solitary men are also not specified in the prosecution's case as presented.