Cops fear Grindr killer Stephen Port murdered more as they probe 58 unsolved deaths linked to date-rape drugs
BUNGLING Met Police cops are being investigated over whether “institutional homophobia” resulted in appalling failures to catch gay serial killer Stephen Port, who they fear has many more victims.
The 41-year-old was today convicted of murdering four young victims he spiked with an overdose of date-rape drug GHB and raped to “satisfy his insatiable appetite for sex with unconscious men.”
Port met his targets through gay cruising websites and filmed himself raping victims while they were unconscious.
He evaded capture during his 15-month killing spree in Barking, East London, after cops dismissed the drug deaths of his victims - Anthony Walgate, Jack Taylor, Daniel Whitworth and Gabriel Kovari - as "non-suspicious” and ignored warnings from grieving relatives and the gay community about foul play.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission is now examining “whether discrimination played a part in the actions and decisions” taken by officers in the bungled investigations.
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Seventeen local officers have been notified they are being investigated by the police watchdog for potential misconduct offences.
Meanwhile, police are examining 58 deaths linked to date rape drug GBL across London since June 2011.
Det Chief Inspector Tim Duffield said no evidence has yet been found to link Port with any of them - but added it is highly likely there are more rape victims and urged them to come forward.
The family of Port murder victim Jack Taylor, 25, said he would still be alive if cops had done their job. Sister Donna said: “If it had been a woman, there would have been more done. It’s ridiculous.”
Monster with a wig
STEPHEN Port was a shy, quiet schoolboy who grew up to be a monster.
He was raised with his elder sister in Dagenham, East London, and got his first job as a chef at 18.
He told his family he was gay in his mid-20s. Sister Sharon, 44, said: “I was always OK with it. Mum had a problem — she was a bit old school.”
He moved into a ground-floor flat in Barking in 2006 and started wearing a blond wig.
He advertised himself as a £150-an-hour male escort and signed up to dating sites where he developed a liking for young, boyish types known as “twinks”.
On his arrest in October last year, mum Joan insisted he was just “taking the blame” like he did at school. Dad Albert agreed he was in the frame as he “won’t speak up”.
What they did not know was that their son — who grinned during harrowing evidence at his trial — had grown obsessed with drug-rape porn before spiking unwitting victims and, in his own chilling words, “topping twinks”.
Port was only captured after Jack’s family refused to accept the police decision that his apparent drug overdose at Abbey Green graveyard in September last year was not suspicious.
The Taylor family mounted their own investigation and discovered through simple internet checks how 25-year-old Jack’s death mirrored those of Daniel and Gabriel at the same location the previous year.
Their protests led to cops renewing inquiries and discovering a CCTV image of Jack meeting his killer at Barking rail station. A belated public appeal was conducted, which identified Port.
The Met’s East London homicide unit, based in a building just a few hundred yards from the graveyard where three bodies were found, were then called in.
Port was arrested on October 15 and a search of his home unearthed films of him raping victims while they were unconscious.
Jack’s sister Donna said :“The police should be held accountable for Jack’s death.
“We do understand it’s not them who have taken Jack’s life, but if they had done their job Jack would still be here.”
Maria Kovariova, mother of victim Gabriel said : “I wish the police had investigated the case properly and caught my son’s killer sooner.
“Now I hope the full weight of the British justice system comes down on his head.
“My most beloved child is dead. He was a great boy, everyone who knew him would say so.
“My heart is broken and our whole family is devastated.”
Victim Daniel’s aunt Laurie Jones blasted police for being conned into believing he had killed himself.
Mrs Jones said: “It’s shocking enough to be told that someone you love has committed suicide out of the blue. But to find out later that the circumstances were suspicious is appalling.
“It’s just incredible the police made this mistake. How can it have happened?"
20 blunders that allowed Port to continue killing
1: In 2014 Port was questioned by cops while with a young gay Muslim who vomited and collapsed after being spiked with drugs. No notes were taken.
2. Port served an eight month prison sentence for lying to police after the body of his first victim was found but cops failed to get enough evidence for him to be charged with murder.
3: A pair of sunglasses found on the body of Gabriel Kovari were later found to have Port’s DNA on them - they were not been tested after his body was found.
4: CCTV cameras surrounding the graveyard were not working properly when Gabriel died.
5: Police accepted the bogus suicide note left in Daniel Whitworth's hand at face value and didn't check handwriting or test the paper.
6: Daniel’s bogus suicide note contained a paragraph saying “BTW please do not blame the guy I was with last night". "The guy" was Port.
7: A blue bed sheet Daniel was found lying on belonged to Port and had his DNA on it.
8: Bruising under Daniel's armpits was not investigated despite a doctor saying it "may have resulted from manual handling of the deceased".
9: Port dressed Daniel’s body in Gabriel’s light blue hoodie - if tested the jumper would have revealed Port's DNA.
10: Swabs taken from Daniel’s body were not analysed at the time.
11: Police did not bother to check Daniel’s movements for that weekend of Gabriel's death. If they had it would have been clear he was not involved.
12: Police dismissed questions asked by the gay community and local media about the deaths of Gabriel and Daniel.
13: Although Gabriel and Daniel never met, Port posed as a student and porn star to plant a story suggesting they were lovers. His story made it back to police.
14: Port hid from cops when they knocked at his door after he spiked and raped a 22-year-old man in January 2015.
15: Cops ruled the death of Jack Taylor was not suspicious – despite him being found dead of a suspected overdose at the same graveyard as Gabriel and Daniel.
16: All victims were found sitting propped up against a wall with their tops riding up and exposing their stomach, possibly caused when their bodies were moved.
17: Cops missed the significance that none of the victims had their mobile phones on them.
18: Police could have checked the IT history of Port’s last three victims - but did not bother.
19: Swabs from the bottle lid and neck of a date-rape drug found in Jack's pocket later showed traces of Port’s DNA.
20: Despite previous coincidences, police dismissed Jack’s death as drug-related and only a routine post-mortem was conducted.
Veteran gay rights activist Peter Tatchell compared the case to “institutional racism” identified in the landmark Macpherson report into the Met’s bungled investigation of the 1993 murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence.
Mr Tatchell added : “If four young middle class women had been murdered in Mayfair, I believe the police would have made a public appeal much sooner and mounted a far more comprehensive investigation.
“The killing of low-income gay men in working class Barking was treated very differently. Police officers stand accused of class, gender and sexuality bias.”
Met commander Stuart Cundy admitted there were “potential opportunities” missed “which could have led to the identification of Stephen Port earlier.”
He declined to apologise to victims and families on the grounds of not pre-empting the on-going IPCC inquiry, but said : “Clearly there were significant similarities between the deaths.”
Since Port’s arrest, frontline Met cops have received educational training on London’s gay chemsex and cruising websites scenes.
Comment: Colin Sutton, EX Met DCI who nailed serial killer Levi Bellfield
I DO not believe the mistakes were grounded in homophobia.
The issue is ignorance.
Officers looking at these deaths had very little idea of how dating apps are used by gay men, or of London’s chemsex scene.
It led to false assumptions and Port being left at large to carry on killing and raping.
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