Anthony Gilheaney allegedly left a ‘trail of carnage’ in his Mercedes on Christmas Day last year
A 25-year-old man who died after being hit head-on by a Mercedes driver on Christmas Day “had not stood a chance”, a court has heard.
Anthony Gilheaney, 30, left a “trail of carnage” in London’s West End in the early hours of December 25 2024 as he mowed down five people in a series of drink-fuelled attacks, an Old Bailey trial was told on Tuesday.
Prosecutor Crispin Aylett KC, opening the trial, told jurors Gilheaney “deliberately drove across the street intending to kill someone” before he struck Aidan Chapman and his friend Tyrone Ithoro on Shaftesbury Avenue.
“As the car turned into Shaftesbury Avenue, heading towards the junction with Rupert Street, it was caught on several different cameras,” Mr Aylett KC told the jury.
“It is being driven at speed and then, for no apparent reason other than a desire to knock somebody down, the defendant careered onto the other side of the road and struck them.
“He (Mr Chapman) simply had not stood a chance.”
Jurors were shown CCTV camera footage of the crash, in which Mr Chapman and Mr Ithoro can be seen looking left and right before crossing the road, which appeared clear at the time.
Mr Ithoro had almost reached the pavement when the Mercedes arrived at speed, hitting Mr Chapman head-on and clipping Mr Ithoro, who was knocked down.
Mr Chapman was thrown into the air and landed on the other side of the junction with Rupert Street, jurors were told.
“Aidan was bleeding profusely from his head and ears, and he was lapsing in and out of consciousness,” Mr Aylett KC said.
Mr Chapman was taken to St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington.
It was found he had suffered a severe brain injury, fractures to his skull and the bones in his face, and to his right thigh bone, the court heard.
“The neurosurgery team considered that there was no surgery that was capable of improving his condition,” Mr Aylett KC said.
“On New Year’s Eve, the machines that had been keeping him alive were turned off and he died.”
Jurors were told Gilheaney was drunk when he left a nightclub on Shaftesbury Avenue prior to the incidents.
After he got into his car, Gilheaney first attacked a man called Arif Khan by calling him a “P**i” before reversing into him, jurors were told.
He allegedly went on to reverse into an Uber driver’s vehicle twice, before targeting Marcelo Basbus-Garcia and his partner Miguel Waihrich, who were walking back from Midnight Mass on Great Windmill Street.
Prosecution said Gilheaney drove his car at the couple twice, first hitting Mr Basbus-Garcia then Mr Waihrich, before driving off onto Shaftesbury Avenue where he struck Mr Chapman and Mr Ithoro.
The prosecution alleged the attacks involving Mr Khan, Mr Basbus-Garcia and Miguel Waihrich were racist and homophobic.
Gilheaney denies one count of murder, one count of wounding with intent, three counts of attempted murder, two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, and one count of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm.
Jurors were told on Tuesday that the defendant had already admitted to dangerous driving, and had six convictions for dangerous driving between March 2012 and March 2023.
The trial continues.
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