Highlights
- Drunk driver Anthony Gilheaney, 31, convicted of murder and multiple attacks on Christmas Day 2024.
- Victim Aiden Chapman, 25, died from catastrophic brain injuries after being struck by the vehicle.
- Attacks included homophobic and racist violence across London's West End.
A British man has been found guilty of murder after he deliberately drove his Mercedes into pedestrians during a series of violent attacks in central London on Christmas Day last year.
Anthony Gilheaney, 31, from Harlow, Essex, was convicted at the Old Bailey on Friday for the murder of Aiden Chapman, 25, who suffered fatal brain injuries. The court also found him guilty of one count of wounding with intent, two counts of attempted murder, and one count of causing grievous bodily harm.
The jury heard how Gilheaney, heavily intoxicated, mounted pavements and targeted people in London's West End during the early hours of 25 December 2024. His blood alcohol level was more than one and a half times the legal limit when tested hours after the attacks.
Chapman died in hospital on New Year's Eve after being thrown into the air when Gilheaney's car struck him and his friend Tyrone Itorho as they crossed Shaftesbury Avenue. Medical professionals described his brain injuries as "unsurvivable".
Trial and sentencing
Among the other victims were Marcelo Basbus-Garcia and Miguel Waihrich, a couple returning from midnight mass in Piccadilly. Prosecutor Crispin Aylett KC told the court the attack on them was "clearly a homophobic attack".
Waihrich described making eye contact with Gilheaney as he drove towards them, saying "I remember his eyes and the position of his hands on the wheel, I remember his face and me crying for him to stop, and he didn't stop."
The rampage also included racial abuse directed at an Asian man, whom Gilheaney struck with his vehicle before physically assaulting him. A family with a child in a pushchair narrowly escaped by running out of the way.
DCI Wayne Jolley of the Metropolitan Police said Gilheaney "got behind the wheel of his car in a drunken rage, determined to inflict as much damage as possible".
Gilheaney had six previous convictions for dangerous driving between 2012 and 2023 and was disqualified from driving at the time of the attacks. He faces a mandatory life sentence, with the minimum term to be decided on January (30).
