Dec. 19 (UPI) — An English man was convicted of ramming his Mercedes into a crowd last Christmas Day, killing a young man and seriously injuring four others in a “drunken rage” in London.
Anthony Gilheaney, 31, of Longfield, Harlow, was found guilty of murder, attempted murder and wounding with intent after a trial at the Old Bailey. Sentencing has been set for Jan. 19, Metropolitan Police said.
He faces a mandatory life sentence, the Guardian reported.
“Gilheaney got behind the wheel of his car in a drunken rage, determined to inflict as much damage as possible,” Detective Chief Inspector Wayne Jolley, who led the investigation of the crash in London’s West End. “He targeted innocent people, who were out celebrating Christmas Day and killed 25-year-old Aiden Chapman.”
At 12:45 a.m., officers were called to Shaftesbury Avenue after reports of a collision and a car driving on the wrong side of the road.
Four pedestrians were taken to a hospital. Chpan died from his brain injuries on New Year’s Eve.
Injured were a couple on their way home from Midnight mass.
At about 30 mph, his car struck Marcelo Basbus-Garcia after reversing at high speed, and he also drove at Miguel Waihrich while he was tending to his injured partner.
“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,” Waihrich told the court. “It was so fast. Every person in that street was in panic — we started to run.”
Prosecutor Crispin Aylett said the attack on Waihrich and Basbus-Garcia was “clearly a homophobic attack.”
Police said he drove more than 100 mph in eluding them until he crashed his car.
Gilheaney was located in Lincoln’s Inn Fields by City of London Police around 20 minutes after the collision.
“Gilheaney was swiftly arrested, and our officers have worked relentlessly to hold him accountable for his actions,” Jolley said. “Throughout the investigation, he has refused to acknowledge the seriousness of his offenses, making every attempt to portray himself as a troubled victim. I commend the jury for seeing through this act.”
He also crashed into a taxi, then mounted the pavement where a family pushing a child in a pushchair had to run to get out of the way. Three people escaped by pinning themselves against a wall.
Gilheaney, before the rampage, shouted racial abuse at an Asian man before driving into him, then getting out of his car and attacking him.
He was charged Dec. 27 with four counts of attempted murder, causing serious injury by driving while disqualified, driving a motor vehicle dangerously and possession of a bladed article in a public place. After Aiden’s death, Gilheaney was further charged with murder.
Several hours after the rampage, his tested blood alcohol level was more than 1 1/2 times the legal limit. He drank at a bar and alcohol bottles were found on the car’s floor, including mixer cans.
“No parent should have to go through the hellish trauma of losing a child. Words cannot describe the pain and anguish Anthony Gilheaney has caused us by his evil actions,” Aiden’s family said. “No amount of justice or prison time will ever be enough to compensate for our loss.”
“Gilheaney has taken the best part of us. He has left us with a dark void 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.”
From 2012 to 2023, Gilheaney accumulated six convictions for dangerous driving and had been disqualified twice, including at the time of the attacks.