Anthony Littler: How undercover police helped solve 1984 murder case

Just after midnight on 1 May 1984, civil servant Anthony Littler stepped off a train at East Finchley station and set off down a dark alleyway towards home. Two minutes later, the 45-year-old lay dying on the ground. Anthony - a "gentle giant" to his friends, who lived alone and loved real ale - had been struck twice over the head. Nothing was stolen. No eyewitnesses, no forensics, no clear motive. For 42 years, nobody was brought to justice. On Friday, that changed. Michael Stewart, 57, and Anthony Stewart, 60, were sentenced at the Old Bailey to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 10 years and 15 years respectively for his murder. The brothers were aged 15 and 18 at the time of the attack. Although there was no evidence Anthony Littler was gay, Mrs Justice Cutts noted that the Stewarts had targeted gay men to rob. "1984 was a different time and in many respects a different place," she said. In a televised sentencing, the senior judge told the defendants: "I am quite sure your group was lying in wait for a victim. You targeted that decent, honest individual and took his life." Cold cases are often solved by science: DNA, fingerprints, old exhibits tested with new techniques.