A man who deliberately used his car as a weapon to target pedestrians in a hate-fuelled rampage through central London on Christmas Day has been convicted of murder.
A Festive Night Turned to Terror
Anthony Gilheaney, 31, from Harlow, Essex, was drunk when he mounted pavements with his Mercedes in the early hours of 25 December 2024. His attacks, described in court as homophobic and racist, left one man dead and four others seriously injured.
The violence began after Gilheaney, who had been drinking heavily in Bar Rumba, left the venue shortly after midnight. Witnesses described him as "very angry, his whole body was tensed and primed". He was soon seen shirtless, shouting in the middle of Great Windmill Street.
The Victims' Harrowing Ordeal
The court heard desperate accounts of terror and heroism. Couple Marcelo Basbus-Garcia and Miguel Waihrich, returning from midnight mass in Piccadilly, were among the first targeted. Gilheaney reversed at high speed, striking Basbus-Garcia and knocking him unconscious.
Waihrich recounted making eye contact with Gilheaney as the car accelerated towards them a second time while he shielded his partner. "I remember his eyes and the position of his hands on the wheel," Waihrich testified. "I remember me crying for him to stop, and he didn't stop." Prosecutor Crispin Aylett KC said this was "clearly a homophobic attack".
Gilheaney then ploughed into Aiden Chapman, 25, and his friend Tyrone Itorho as they crossed Shaftesbury Avenue. Chapman was thrown into the air and sustained catastrophic brain injuries described by doctors as "unsurvivable". He died in hospital on New Year's Eve.
In a separate incident minutes earlier, Gilheaney had shouted racial abuse at an Asian man before driving into him and then physically attacking him. His rampage continued, with a family pushing a child in a pram forced to run for safety and three people pinning themselves against a wall to escape.
History of Dangerous Driving and Sentencing
The jury at the Old Bailey found Gilheaney guilty of murder, attempted murder, and wounding with intent on Friday. The rampage ended only when he crashed his car after driving at over 100mph to evade police.
Tests showed his blood alcohol level was more than one and a half times the legal limit several hours later. His car was found with vodka bottles and mixer cans strewn across the floor.
Gilheaney had a shocking history of dangerous driving, with six convictions between 2012 and 2023 and two driving disqualifications, one of which was active at the time of the attacks. He had denied murder.
He now faces a mandatory life sentence, with a judge to set the minimum term he must serve before parole can be considered.
