Pic:Life sentence: Stephen Port was found guilty of murdering four men at his Barking flat by giving them lethal doses of date rape drug
Crime reporter(wp/es):
A serial killer who murdered four young men to satisfy his twisted sexual fantasies has been condemned to die behind bars.
Stephen Port, 41, killed his victims with overdoses of date-rape drug GHB at chemsex parties at his Barking flat.
He was obsessed with so-called rape porn, and enjoyed having sex with young men while they were unconscious.
Family and friends of the victims cheered and broke into spontaneous applause as Mr Justice Openshaw today imposed a whole life sentence.
Port turned his head away from the public gallery as one person shouted out: "I hope you die a long slow death you piece of s***".
Port was captured after the first murder, but a string of police blunders meant he was let free to kill three more times and sexually abuse more men.
The family of one of the murder victims is now planning to sue the Met over its handling of the case.
Port, a former bus garage chef, sat emotionless in the dock at the Old Bailey as Mr Justice Openshaw imposed the sentence and condemned his "wicked and monstrous" lies.
Port was convicted on Wednesday at the Old Bailey of four counts of murder, four rapes, ten counts of administering a substance with intent.
"The defendant has been convicted of the murders of four young men, including the murders committed in the course of satisfying his lust for penetrating young men who he had rendered unconscious by surreptitiously administration of drugs", he said.
"I have no doubt the seriousness of this offending is so exceptionally high that a whole life sentence is justified, indeed it is required.
"The result of which is the defendant will die in prison."
He said he had "no doubt" Port drugged the four men who died to have sex with them, and raped them while they were conscious.
Defence barrister David Etherington QC said: "In this period of his life, Stephen Port descended into a vortex in which drug taking filled his private life, where intense gratification of sexual desire was central.
"His interest in sex with drugged young men graduated from a fetish to a fixation, and from a fixation into a compulsion."
Port first murdered Middlesex University fashion student Anthony Walgate, 23, in June 2014 after they had met on Grindr.
He calmly went to work while Mr Walgate lay dead at his flat in Cooke Street, then dumped the body outside the block of flats and pretended to police he had just found.
Police quizzed Port and exposed his lies that he did not know Mr Walgate, but failed to probe the death further and charged him only with perverting course of justice.
Port was set free and killed twice more before serving a short prison sentence for his lies about Mr Walgate.
Temporary lodger Gabriel Kovari, 22, and chef Daniel Whitworth, 21, who he met for sex, were both dumped in the ruins of Barking Abbey just a short walk from Port's home.
The killer had planted bottles of GHB on all three bodies, and he planted a fake suicide note in Mr Whitworth's hand taking the blame for Mr Kovari's death.
Detectives again believed the deaths were unexplained rather than suicide, not realising they had a serial killer on their hands until a year later, in September last year, when fourth victim Jack Taylor, 25, was found dead in the same churchyard.
Mr Taylor's family had to convince police his death was foul play rather than a simple drug overdose, and CCTV then emerged of Port with the young man hours before his death.
At trial, Port insisted he was innocent of all charges, including the four murders and string of sexual attacks on unconscious men.
He stuck by his story that Mr Whitworth had committed suicide because guilty over Mr Kovari's death.
"These were wicked and monstrous lies which must have caused immense distress to Daniel's family", said the judge. "Under cross-examination, this story unravelled and the truth emerged that he had killed them both."
In victim impact statements, the mother of Anthony Walgate said his family were "devastated" but took comfort that Port would never kill again, while Daniel Whitworth's father Adam said he is "consumed with grief".
"Those closest to Daniel are facing a life sentence, a life sentence of grief", he said.
The family of Jack Taylor said in a statement they had been forced to come to terms with his death and arrange a funeral while investigating themselves whether he had been murdered.
"We have truly fallen apart as a family", they said.
They are planning to sue the Met over its handling of the case, and have led criticism of the force for failing to catch Port sooner.
The Met has referred itself to the IPCC and said 17 officers are being investigated for misconduct. Fifty-eight GHB related deaths are also being re-examined.
The judge noted the striking similarities between the deaths, but said it was "for others to decide" whether the Met had failed in its initial investigations.
Port used youthful-looking profile pictures and fake names on a myriad of social media accounts to contact his victims, and wore a blonde wig to cover his bald head.
Port was found guilty by the jury of four counts of murder, four rapes, ten counts of administering a substance with intent, and four sexual assaults.
He was cleared of a further three counts of rape.
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