Who is ‘Grindr killer’ Stephen Port – and how was he able to kill four people?
More than seven years after Stephen Port committed murder for the first time, an inquest has begun into the deaths of his four victims.
Port, 46, is one of just 60 prisoners in the UK serving a whole-life sentence, which means he will die behind bars.
Between June 2014 and September 2015, the former chef lured four young men to his flat in Barking, east London, plied them with drugs, raped and murdered them.
Police initially failed to make any connection between the deaths, with the Met forced to apologise to the victims’ families and several officers investigated for gross misconduct over alleged failings in trying to catch Port before he killed again.
The inquest is taking place just yards away from where he carried out his crimes.
It will last around 10 weeks and examine whether police missed opportunities to stop the serial killer sooner.
Here Sky News looks back at what we know:
Stephen Port
Stephen Port is pictured during his trial. Pic: Met Police
Port, 46, was given a whole-life prison sentence on 25 November 2016.
In court, he denied all 22 charges against him, but was found guilty of the murders of Anthony Walgate, 23, Jack Taylor, 25, Daniel Whitworth, 21, and Gabriel Kovari, 22.
Port, also known as ‘The Grindr Killer’ for the way he scouted his victims, was also convicted of four rapes, four sexual assaults and 10 counts of administering a substance in relation to seven other men.
He was cleared of three other counts of rape.
Port wore a blond hairpiece to make himself appear younger
Port is behind bars at HMP Belmarsh in south London.
He was born in Southend, Essex in 1975, before his parents moved to Dagenham, east London.
His father worked as a cleaner for Barking and Dagenham Council and his mother worked at a supermarket checkout.
Port went to art school at 16, but his family were unable to afford his studies, so he changed direction and trained as a chef for two years instead. He came out as gay in his mid-twenties.
He worked in catering at various places in his local area and was working as a chef for Stagecoach at their bus depot in West Ham when he committed his crimes.
Port had lived in Barking since 2006
Port moved to his own flat in Cooke Street, Barking in 2006.
Men he had been in relationships with before the murders told police he regularly used the party drug GHB, which is often referred to as a ‘date rape’ drug.
Searches of his computer also revealed he regularly watched ‘drug rape’ pornography.
Previous partners told investigators he would regularly cheat on them, work as a male escort or act as their pimp.
He used dating sites to meet men who were younger than him.
At the age of 32, Port had a two-year relationship with a 16-year-old boy.
Anthony Walgate
Anthony Walgate was 23 when he was found dead outside Stephen Port’s block of flats in the early hours of 19 June 2014.
He was studying fashion at Middlesex University and living in rented accommodation in Golders Green, 17 miles away from Barking, in north London.
Living away from his family home in Hull, he occasionally worked as an escort through a website called Sleepyboys to earn some extra money.
It was there he was contacted by Port, who offered him £800 for an overnight job.
Mr Walgate told a friend he had received an escort booking in Barking, but was not convinced it was genuine, so gave them the details “in case I get killed”.
He also told the friend he was going to take a pair of scissors with him should he need to defend himself.
Nobody heard anything from Mr Walgate until Port called an ambulance at 4.18am claiming: “There’s a young boy, looks like he’s collapsed outside… he could have had a seizure or something, or just drunk.”
When paramedics arrived along with the police they found Mr Walgate slumped against a wall outside Port’s apartment block in Cooke Street – dead.
The entrance to Stephen Port’s flat in Barking, east London
He had a black bag next to him with a bottle of liquid inside, but no mobile phone.
Port told police he had come back from a night shift at around 4am to find a man “lying in front of my door”.
He claimed to have tried to wake him up by slapping him in the face, but when that failed he called an ambulance and left him outside.
A week later, police discovered Mr Walgate had worked as an escort, and Port had accessed his profile and arranged to meet up with him.
They arrested him on 26 June on suspicion of perverting the course of justice after he lied about discovering him out of the blue.
Port changed his story, admitting he found Mr Walgate online and met up with him in the middle of the night at Barking station.
Inside Port’s flat
He claimed his victim had taken drugs from a bottle and they had sex twice, but when Mr Walgate was about to leave, he had become very tired, so he stayed the night.
Port left for work before Mr Walgate woke up, he told detectives, and came back to find him still sleeping.
He claimed he got into bed with him but started to panic at around 3am when he realised he was “rigid”.
Port said he dragged him outside his flat for fear of people thinking he might have been responsible for his death.
He was bailed and it wasn’t until 15 January the following year that he was charged.
Pleading guilty at Snaresbrook Crown Court in February, he was sentenced to eight months in prison.
He only served four months and was released in June 2015.
Port was not investigated on suspicion of murdering Mr Walgate – as police had not searched his computer despite seizing it after his arrest.
Mr Walgate’s death was instead put down to a fatal GHB overdose after the drug was found in blood and urine samples.
Gabriel Kovari
Gabriel Kovari was Port’s second murder victim.
His body was found in the graveyard at St Margaret’s Church in Barking – 0.2 miles away from Port’s flat – on 28 August 2014.
At this point, Port was out on bail having been arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice over the lies he told police about Anthony Walgate’s death.
Mr Kovari, 22, was originally from Slovakia, but had been living in Spain with his boyfriend Thierry Amodio, before he decided to move to London in mid-2014.
Originally he lived with a man he met on a gay dating website in south London.
But he was keen to move and in August he said he had found a place to stay in Barking.
Mr Kovari moved into Port’s Cooke Street flat on 23 August.
Three of the victims were found in the graveyard at St Margaret’s Church, Barking
The 22-year-old had told friends Port seemed strange and that he was not attracted to him, but he was not going to charge him rent for staying on the sofa, so he was happy to live there.
But after meeting one of his Port’s neighbours the day after he moved in, Mr Kovari text him to say “Stephen is not a nice person”.
The neighbour texted Port to ask how Mr Kovari was doing, but he replied that he had “gone to stay with some soldier guy he had been chatting to online”.
On 27 August, Port rang his sister Sharon to say there was a dead body in his bedroom.
She told him to go to the police, but 24 hours later Mr Kovari’s body was found slumped against a wall in the graveyard near Port’s flat.
His midriff was exposed, as Mr Walgate’s had been. But Port was not questioned over Mr Kovari’s death.
Instead he found his boyfriend on Facebook and pretended to be a 21-year-old gay porn star from California called Jon Luck in order to get information about the police investigation.
Daniel Whitworth
Three weeks after she found Gabriel Kovari’s body in the Barking churchyard, on 20 September 2014 local dogwalker Barbara Denham found another in the same place.
It turned out to be Port’s third murder victim, 21-year-old Daniel Whitworth.
Mr Whitworth was in a relationship with his partner Ricky Waumsley and they lived together in Gravesend, Kent, having met on a gay dating site.
He was a chef and worked at up-market locations in London such as One Moorgate Place and Canary Warf.
Mr Whitworth was signed up to another dating site at the time called Fitlads and began talking to Port on there on 18 August.
They didn’t meet until a month later.
Items found in Stephen Port’s flat
On 19 September when he failed to turn up for work, Mr Whitworth’s boyfriend reported him missing.
Port was later found to have deleted his Fitlads profile that day.
When Mr Whitworth’s body was found, it was accompanied by a fake suicide note, written by Port.
It said he had killed himself out of guilt because he had been taking GHB with Gabriel Kovari when he “didn’t notice while we was having sex that he stopped breathing”.
The note added: “BTW Please do not blame the guy I was with last night, we only had sex then I left, he knows nothing of what I have done.”
The fake note said he had overdosed on sleeping pills and GHB, which were both found in his system during post-mortem examinations.
Police appeared to believe the note and neither death was treated as suspicious. Their inquests recorded open verdicts.
Jack Taylor
Jack Taylor, 25, was a forklift truck driver from Dagenham, east London.
He was Port’s final victim. His body was found on 15 September 2015 – two months after Port had been released from prison for perverting the course of justice.
Mr Taylor lived at home with his parents and he had two sisters. He was not thought to be openly gay and had a number of girlfriends in the past.
Three days before he was found dead, he went out drinking at the Trading Club in Dagenham.
When he got back in the early hours of 13 September, his father was still awake and wished him goodnight.
But soon after that he had gone back out in a taxi after matching with Port on the app Grindr.
Phone records show Port had asked his victim if he had “ever taken T”, referring to crystal meth.
CCTV captured Port and Mr Taylor meeting at Barking station in the middle of the night.
CCTV images show Port walking through Barking with Jack Taylor before he died
They walked to Port’s flat, where police believe he died shortly after.
Before his body was found without a mobile phone – in similar circumstances to Anthony Walgate – Port deleted his Grindr account.
Mr Taylor was discovered in the same spot in the church graveyard as Gabriel Kovari and Daniel Whitworth, but police made no link and put the death down to a drug overdose.
His family refused to accept this story and pursed their own inquiries.
After putting pressure on police, detectives revealed they had CCTV of Mr Taylor in the hours before he died.
Eventually the Met issued one of the CCTV images, which showed him walking near Barking station with a tall man.
Although several members of the public called about the picture, it was a local police officer in Barking and Dagenham that recognised Port from previous inquiries.
Finally on 15 October 2015, Port was arrested on suspicion of causing the deaths of all four of his victims by administering poison.
Port is pictured during a police interview on 15 October 2015. Pic: Met Police
Other victims
After a four-day police interview, searches of his home, phone and laptop, Port was charged with four counts of murder on 18 October.
The charge was reported in the media, which caused eight other men to come forward with stories they had been drugged and raped by Port at his flat after finding him online.
All the men claimed to have had similar experiences.
They said Port had either spiked their drinks or injected them with drugs without them knowing.
The killer is pictured on CCTV buying drugs at a flat in Barking in 2015
One man, a teenage student, told his trial he met Port on Grindr at the beginning of 2012.
The pair met at Barking station and went back to Cooke Street.
At Port’s flat, the man said he put on a film and offered him a glass of red wine.
He noticed it “tasted bitter” and there was “sludge at the bottom of the glass”.
This turned out to be GHB, which made the man fall asleep. He awoke to Port raping him.
The drugs were so strong, he fell unconscious again minutes later.
In the morning, he said Port acted like nothing had happened and was too scared to tell anyone about it.
The ground floor of Port’s flat in Cooke Street
Another man, this time a Muslim one in his twenties, said he met Port five times after they matched on the website Fitlads in mid-2014.
On the fifth meeting, Port offered him poppers, a legal party drug often used during sex.
The man did not drink alcohol or take drugs, so they caused him to fall asleep.
He claims Port offered him a glass of water when he woke up, which made him pass out again.
The man awoke to find he was not wearing underwear and began shouting and screaming.
Port took him to Barking station where the man was still in visible distress.
British Transport Police on duty at the station called an ambulance, which made Port fearful he’d be caught.
But the man was too scared to report the incident to police, as his parents were not aware of his sexuality.
Sarah Sak (second right), mother of Anthony Walgate arrives at his inquest on 5 October 2021
Police failings
There have been allegations of multiple police failings to catch Port before he committed further crimes.
And LGBTQ rights organisations have accused the Met of failing to investigate his victims’ deaths because of their sexuality.
Swearing in jurors for their inquests at Barking town hall on 5 October, Sarah Munro, assistant coroner for east London, said: “The trial did not answer the important question of whether the deaths of Anthony Walgate, Gabriel Kovari, Daniel Whitworth and Jack Taylor might have been prevented.
“If there appear to have been shortcomings in the way in which the police investigated these deaths, we must consider those shortcomings dispassionately and resist the temptation to look for scapegoats.”
The Met were forced to apologise to the families of the four men following Port’s trial.
A laptop found in Stephen Port’s flat
As the inquest opened, Commander Jon Savell, head of profession for investigations, said: “Our thoughts are firstly with the family and friends of those murdered by Stephen Port.
“We are offering every assistance to the coroner and welcome a full examination of all the facts surrounding the tragic deaths of these four young men.
“At the time of Port’s conviction, we apologised to the victims’ families and Daniel Whitworth’s partner for how we initially responded to the deaths, and I would like to apologise again.
“Since Port’s offences came to light we have worked hard within the Met to improve both our processes and our wider knowledge across the organisation of a range of issues associated with the murders.”
The families have launched civil action against the force and 17 officers are being investigated by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) over alleged misconduct.
After Port’s sentencing, the Met said it was re-investigating 58 unexplained deaths that involved date rape drugs.
A spokesperson added: “Work since Port’s offences came to light includes adopting an MPS-wide written protocol for minimum standards of investigation for unexplained deaths.
“There has been extra training for our officers on how drugs can be used as a weapon by offenders to facilitate rape and sexual assault, as well as on issues that impact on the confidence of our LGBT+ communities.”
Read more on Stephen Port:
Inquests into deaths of serial killer’s four victims set to go ahead
Inquests will look at whether police ‘missed opportunities’ to stop him sooner
The UK’s economic slowdown gathered further momentum during the third quarter of the year with growth of just 0.1%, according to an early official estimate that makes horrific reading for the chancellor.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported a surprise contraction for economic output during September of -0.1% – with some of the downwards pressure being applied by the cyber attack disruption to production at Jaguar Land Rover.
The figures for July-September followed on the back of a 0.3% growth performance over the previous three months and the 0.7% expansion achieved between January and March.
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Growth ‘slightly worse than expected’
The encouraging start to 2025 was soon followed by the worst of Donald Trump’s trade war salvoes and the implementation of budget measures that placed employers on the hook for £25bn of extra taxes.
Economists have blamed those factors since for pushing up inflation and harming investment and employment.
ONS director of economic statistics, Liz McKeown, said: “Growth slowed further in the third quarter of the year with both services and construction weaker than in the previous period. There was also a further contraction in production.
“Across the quarter as a whole, manufacturing drove the weakness in production. There was a particularly marked fall in car production in September, reflecting the impact of a cyber incident, as well as a decline in the often-erratic pharmaceutical industry.
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What next for the UK economy?
“Services were the main contributor to growth in the latest quarter, with business rental and leasing, live events and retail performing well, partially offset by falls in R&D [research and development] and hair and beauty salons.”
When measured by per head of population- a preferred measure of living standards – zero growth was registered during the third quarter.
The weaker-than-expected figures will add fuel to expectations that the Bank of England can cut interest rates at its December meeting after November’s hold.
The vast majority of financial market participants now expect a reduction to 3.75% from 4% on 18 December.
Data earlier this week showed the UK’s unemployment rate at 5% – up from 4.1% when Labour came to power with a number one priority of growing the economy.
Since then, the government’s handling of the economy has centred on its stewardship of the public finances.
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Chancellor questioned by Sky News
The chancellor was accused by business groups of harming private sector investment and employment through hikes to minimum wage levels and employer national insurance contributions.
The Bank has backed the assertion that hiring and staff retention has been hit as a result of those extra costs.
There is also evidence that rising employment costs have been passed on to consumers and contributed to the UK’s stubbornly high rate of inflation of 3.8% – a figure that is now expected to ease considerably in the coming months.
Rachel Reeves has blamed other factors – such as Brexit and the US trade war – for weighing on the economy, leaving her facing a similar black hole to the one she says she inherited from the Conservatives.
Her second budget is due on 26 November.
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She said of the latest economic data: “We had the fastest-growing economy in the G7 in the first half of the year, but there’s more to do to build an economy that works for working people.
“At my budget later this month, I will take the fair decisions to build a strong economy that helps us to continue to cut waiting lists, cut the national debt and cut the cost of living.”
Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride responded: “Today’s ONS figures show the economy shrank in the latest month, under a Prime Minister and Chancellor who are in office but not in power.”
The Scottish government and For Women Scotland’s long-running legal battle over the definition of a woman is yet to come to a close.
For Women Scotland (FWS) won the case in April when the country’s highest court ruled “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refers to “a biological woman and biological sex”.
The Scottish government was ordered to pay a portion of the campaign group’s legal costs.
FWS told Sky News the bill of costs for the Supreme Court element of the case was more than £270,000, however various parts have reportedly been disputed by the Scottish government.
That has now been submitted to the court for determination and a decision is awaited.
Pic: PA
The Outer and Inner House element of the case at the Court of Session in Edinburgh was said to be more than £150,000.
Trina Budge, co-director of FWS, said the group is also due an uplift – a small percentage of the final expenses awarded.
Ms Budge claimed Scottish ministers are yet to enter into any negotiations on settlement and a date has been set in January for a hearing before the Auditor of the Court of Session to confirm the amount the government will have to pay.
Ms Budge said: “The delay always suits the paying party but I think it’s quite unusual to decline to enter into any discussions at all.
“It’s highly likely this is a deliberate tactic in the hope of starving us of funds to prevent us continuing our latest case on the lawfulness of housing male prisoners on the female estate.
“However, it should come as no surprise to the government that we have massive support and we will, of course, be continuing regardless of any sharp practices.”
Susan Smith and Marion Calder, co-directors of For Women Scotland, outside the Supreme Court in London in April. Pic: PA
It is understood the bill of costs for the Supreme Court case was lodged by FWS in August, while the expenses linked to the Court of Session action was submitted in September.
Figures revealed by a recent Freedom of Information (FOI) request show the Scottish government has spent at least £374,000 on the case.
Final costs are yet to be confirmed but will be published once complete.
A Scottish government spokesperson said: “There is an established process to be undertaken to agree the final costs for a legal case and these will be calculated and published in due course.”
In August, FWS lodged fresh action at the Court of Session.
The group claimed Holyrood’s guidance on transgender pupils in schools and the Scottish Prison Service’s (SPS) policy on the management of transgender people in custody were both in “clear breach of the law” and “inconsistent” with the Supreme Court judgment.
The following month, the Scottish government issued updated guidance which said schools across the nation must provide separate toilets for boys and girls on the basis of biological sex.
If possible, schools can also provide gender neutral toilets for transgender students.
However, court proceedings continue over transgender prisoners.
Current SPS guidance allows for a transgender woman to be admitted into the female estate if the inmate does not meet the violence against women and girls criteria, and there is no other basis “to suppose” they could pose an “unacceptable risk of harm” to those also housed there.
First Minister John Swinney and Justice Secretary Angela Constance have both dodged questions on the case, citing it would be inappropriate to comment on live court proceedings.
Justice Secretary Angela Constance and First Minister John Swinney. Pic: PA
On Tuesday, Ms Constance was accused by former Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross of “misleading” Holyrood, saying she could give full answers under contempt of court legislation.
Scottish Tory MSP Tess White, the party’s equalities spokesperson, added she was “spine-chillingly concerned” of a repeat of the Isla Bryson case.
The case of Isla Bryson sparked a public outcry after the double rapist was sent to a women-only prison. Pic: PA
Bryson, a transgender woman born Adam Graham, was initially sent to a women-only prison despite being convicted of raping two women.
The offender was later transferred to the male estate following a public outcry.
Speaking to Sky News, Ms White said: “John Swinney was quick to waste taxpayers’ money fighting a case which confirmed what the vast majority of the public knew beforehand: a woman is an adult human female.”
The MSP for North East Scotland urged the SNP administration to “pay up and finally respect the clear judgment from the Supreme Court”.
A Scottish government spokesperson said: “It is the Scottish government’s long-held position that it is inappropriate for Scottish ministers to comment on live litigation.
“In all cases, we have an obligation to uphold the independence of the judiciary. We do not want the government to ever be seen as interfering in the work of the independent courts.”
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