Five men found guilty of murdering Greek tourist

Antonis Antoniadis was stabbed to death when he resisted robbery last July

Five men have been found guilty of murdering a Greek tourist who was followed from a West End club and stabbed to death when he resisted being robbed.

Antonis Antoniadis, 26, had travelled to London on a one-week holiday from his home in Greece with a couple of female friends "to see the city and have some fun".

During the Old Bailey trial, the prosecutor said Mr Antoniadis was targeted by the defendants as someone to rob as he was wearing a designer bag.

Sofian Alliche, 20, and his brother Amin Alliche, 18, together with Shian Johnson, 26, Joshua McCorquodale, 20, and Alfie Hipple, 18, all from north-west London, were all convicted of murder and conspiracy to rob.

In the early hours of 7 July 2024, the tourists had ended up in a club at 32 Portland Place, close to Oxford Circus, and didn't leave until after 08:00 BST.

Mr Antoniadis and his friends were staying at an address in New Cross, south-east London and booked an Uber to travel home.

Sofian Alliche, Shian Johnson, Joshua McCorquodale, Amin Alliche and Alfie Hipple (l-r) were found guilty of murder on Friday

"As they travelled out of central London they had no idea they were being followed," said prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC.

"They had no idea that five young men had been hanging around outside that nightclub in a stolen car looking for someone they could rob.

"It seems that when they saw Antonis come out of the club those robbers thought they had found a suitable target."

Mr Antoniadis had been wearing a Lacoste bag and a Versace watch worth £1,300 that night.

The robbers then followed the Uber for over half an hour to Florence Terrace, New Cross where the tourists walked the short distance to the front door.

As one of his friends struggled to find a key Mr Antoniadis was approached by four figures in hoods and balaclavas, with the fifth man staying in the car to prepare for a getaway.

"Antonis had a manbag with him, and it seems that that was what they were after," said Mr Emlyn Jones.

"Antonis resisted and struggled and at one point managed to hit one of his attackers with a brandy bottle he was still holding from his night out.

"Tragically, that brave or just instinctive reaction was to cost him his life."

Antonis was surrounded by the four robbers who punched and kicked him on the ground and then stabbed him in the middle of the chest and his right thigh, the trial heard.

The four men then ran back to the waiting car leaving their victim bleeding to death behind them, the trial heard.

Despite attempts to save him, Mr Antoniadis died in hospital two weeks later on 21 July.

'Really violent'

Video clips recorded on mobile phones and recovered by police also showed the Alliche brothers in the same car on various dates in June and July last year, sometimes in the company of their two co-defendants, McCorquodale and Hipple.

On the night of the murder the Alliche brothers, McCorquodale and Hipple were the occupants who had picked up the fifth defendant, Shian Johnson, the court heard.

Giving evidence, one of the women who accompanied Mr Antoniadis, called Tia, described how the group were holding "big knives" and she offered her phone to them.

She saw Antonis trying to shield them from the attackers and said that he used a bottle to hit one the group on the head.

"That's when they got really violent," she told police.

In their defence, Amin and Sofian Alliche were both said not to have got out of the car during the incident.

Shian Johnson and Joshua McCorquodale claimed they were not in the vehicle at the time, having left it earlier that evening.

Alfie Hipple gave evidence that he had got out of the car, but said he was not aware there was an agreement to commit a robbery.

'Challenging and complex'

The court heard Sofian Alliche and McCorquodale had previous convictions for robbery while both Hipple and Johnson had convictions for possessing weapons.

Det Ch Insp Kate Blackburn, from the Metropolitan Police, said: "This was a particularly challenging and complex case given the lack of CCTV at the scene and the movement of the vehicle, which had been driven by the defendants continuously throughout the night of July 6 and into the following afternoon.

"I am pleased our concerted efforts to find those responsible has enabled us to achieve justice for Antonis' loved ones, family, and friends."

Sentencing has been adjourned to 3 October.