Man who mowed down London pedestrians on Christmas Day convicted of murder | Crime

A man who turned his car into a weapon in a series of hate-filled, homophobic and racist attacks in central London on Christmas Day last year has been found guilty of murder.

Anthony Gilheaney, 31, was drunk when he drove his Mercedes onto the pavement and was targeting people who repeatedly tried to run him over.

He was found guilty of murdering 25-year-old Aiden Chapman, who suffered severe brain damage after being struck by Gilheaney’s car. A couple returning home from midnight mass was also attacked in London’s West End in the early hours of Christmas Day 2024.

The jury was told of desperate scenes, terror and heroism in which a man defended his partner from being hit by a car with his own body.

Four other people were also seriously injured and the rampage only ended when Gilheaney, who was speeding at more than 100 miles per hour to escape police, crashed into their car.

Gilheaney, who is British, was found guilty of murdering Chapman, one count of wounding with intent, two counts of attempted murder and one count of causing grievous bodily harm after a trial at the Old Bailey.

His car hit Marcelo Basbus-Garcia after reversing into him at high speed and he drove towards Miguel Waihrich while he tended to his injured partner Basbus-Garcia. Waihrich told jurors that she made eye contact with Gilheaney as he walked towards them a second time, while Basbus-Garcia was unconscious and “covered in blood.”

“I remember his eyes and the position of his hands on the steering wheel, I remember his face and me crying for him to stop and he didn’t stop,” Waihrich said.

The couple had attended midnight mass in Piccadilly and were on Great Windmill Street when they saw Gilheaney, naked from the waist up, screaming in the middle of the road. Gilheaney got into his car and drove away, then turned back and headed towards the couple.

Waihrich told the court: “The way he was backing up was very high. He was so fast that everyone on the street was in panic; we started running.”

People ran for their lives as Basbus-Garcia fell to the ground. He told the Old Bailey: “The car came after me but it’s fair to say so did he. [Gilheaney] He was after everyone on the street. The last thing I remember was getting hit by a car. “Actually, the last thing I remember is being terrified.”

Waihrich ran to his partner, who was bleeding and unconscious, and saw the car returning. He told the court: “He [Gilheaney] he stopped and looked at me. He’s coming towards me, I’m trying to make signs, I’m gesturing and I say, ‘Stop, please.’ The car does not stop and accelerates towards us, so I decided to protect Marcelo’s head with my body as a shield. “I’m just counting the seconds before the final attack.”

Prosecutor Crispin Aylett KC said the attack on Waihrich and Basbus-Garcia was a “clearly homophobic attack”. Gilheaney then hit Chapman and his friend Tyrone Itorho as they crossed Shaftesbury Avenue.

Chapman died in hospital after being thrown into the air after being hit by a car on New Year’s Eve. Doctors described his brain damage as “unsurvivable”.

Chapman’s parents said: “Words cannot express the pain and suffering that Anthony Gilheaney’s evil actions have caused us. “No amount of justice or prison time will ever be enough to compensate for our loss.

“Gilheaney took the best of us. He left us with a dark hole in our lives that can never be filled. He took our only son from us. Something we will never get over. Something we will never forgive.”

Gilheaney, who had been drinking heavily minutes before the attack, shouted racist abuse at an Asian man before hitting him, then getting out of his car and attacking him.

He also hit a taxi and then went onto the pavement, where a family pushing a pram had to run to get out of the way. Three people escaped by pinning themselves against the wall.

A witness described Gilheaney as someone who was “playing ping pong from side to side across the street” in addition to using his car as a weapon.

When tested a few hours later, his blood alcohol was more than one and a half times the legal limit, and it is estimated that he crashed into people at more than 30 miles per hour. He was drinking at Bar Rumba around 12.40am on Christmas morning. An eyewitness said Gilheaney was “very angry, his whole body was tense and ready.”

His Mercedes had bottles of alcohol, including vodka, as well as mixer cans strewn across the floor.

Between March 2012 and 2023 Gilheaney had six convictions for dangerous driving and was disqualified twice, including during the period of the attacks.

DCI Wayne Jolley, of the Metropolitan Police, said: “Gilheaney got behind the wheel of his car in a drunken rage, determined to cause as much damage as possible. “He targeted innocent people who were out celebrating Christmas Day and killed 25-year-old Aiden Chapman.

“He refused to acknowledge the seriousness of his crimes and made every effort to portray himself as a problematic victim. I commend the jury for getting this action right.”

Gilheaney, of Harlow, Essex, had denied murder. He faces a mandatory life sentence and a judge will decide on Jan. 30 the minimum term he must serve before being released.