Stephen Port has been found guilty of a fourth murder, that of Anthony Patrick Walgate, a 23-year-old who was his first murder victim.
The BBC are reporting that Stephen Port,41, was found guilty at the Old Bailey in London, for the murders of four men he met via gay dating apps. He was also convicted of three rapes.
He has been found guilty of the murders of Anthony Patrick Walgate, 23, Gabriel Kovari, 22, Daniel Whitworth, 21 and Jack Taylor, 25. Their bodies were dumped in or near a graveyard in Barking. The graveyard was 500 meters away from his flat in east London.
Port has denied 29 charges in total.
Initially, he was charged with four counts of murder in relation to the deaths of four men between June 2014 and September 2015.
The charges relate to the deaths of:
– Anthony Patrick Walgate, 23, from Barnet, who was pronounced dead on Cooke Street, Barking on 19 June 2014.
– Gabriel Kovari, 22, from Lewisham, whose body was found near the churchyard of St Margaret’s Church, North Street, Barking on 28 August 2014.
– Daniel Whitworth, 21, from Gravesend, Kent, whose body was found near the churchyard of St Margaret’s Church, North Street, Barking on 20 September 2014.
– Jack Taylor, 25, from Dagenham, whose body was found near the Abbey Ruins close to North Street, Barking on Monday, 14 September.
The Met Police is currently under investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission following concerns on how it handled the initial investigation into Mr Whitworth’s death.
Human rights advocate Peter Tatchell monitored the police handling of the serial killings of young gay men in east London from October 2014 and liaised with a friend of one of the victims, Gabriel Kovari.
Commenting on jury’s guilty verdict and the way police responded to the multiple murders by Stephen Port, he said,
“While timely and commendable, this verdict is no compensation for the loss of four young gay men who had their lives, hopes and dreams cut short.
“Appallingly, even after the third murder the police were still maintaining that the deaths were ‘unusual’ but ‘not suspicious.’ They did not issue a public alert to the gay community that a serial killer could be on the loose. This failing ignored Met Police best practice advice which was agreed two decades ago, after previous murders of gay men.
“The police appeal for public information came in October 2015 – a year too late. Four young men were already dead. This appeal should have been made in August 2014 after the first two killings. If the police had done this, further deaths may have been prevented. Two of these men might still be alive.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated as it develops.
