Driver charged with attempted murder after four injured in Shaftesbury Avenue 'attack' on Christmas Day
Driver charged with attempted murder after four injured in Shaftesbury Avenue 'attack' on Christmas Day
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A man has been charged with four counts of attempted murder after a car mounted the pavement and hit four pedestrians on London’s Shaftesbury Avenue in the early hours of Christmas Day. Anthony Gilheaney, 30, was allegedly behind the wheel of a Mercedes which ploughed into pedestrians, and now faces seven criminal charges over the incident in the early hours of Wednesday.
He is accused of the attempted murders of Aidan Chapman, Tyrone Itorho, Marcelo Basbus-Garcia, and Miguel Wairich, as well as allegedly causing serious injury by driving whilst disqualified. Gilheaney, who lives in Longfield in Harlow, Essex, has also been charged with driving dangerously on Fleet Street, also on Christmas Day, and possession of a small knife in nearby Lincoln's Inn Fields.
He is due to appear to face all the charges for the first time at Westminster magistrates court on Friday. It is said he had been banned from driving prior to the incident when the four pedestrians were injured. After the incident, the Metropolitan Police said four people had been taken to hospital after a road traffic collision and reports of “a car driving on the wrong side of the road on Shaftesbury Avenue”.
It is understood one of the injured people is in a life-threatening condition in hospital. “Officers responded quickly to this report, working closely with City of London Police to arrest a man within minutes”, said Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy.
