Serial killer Stephen Port guilty of murdering four men

Jurors took 28 hours of deliberation to convict Stephen Port of 22 offences against 11 men.

As well as the murder of four men, jurors found him guilty of four rapes, 10 counts of administering a substance and four sex assaults.

He was cleared on three counts of rape.

A drug dealer believed to have unwittingly supplied Stephen Port with GHB that he used to kill at least one of his victims has been jailed for two and a half years.

Peter Hirons, 48, sold drugs to the killer hours before he murdered forklift truck driver Jack Taylor, 25, with a lethal injection.

When police analysed Hirons' account on gay dating app Grindr after his arrest in October last year, they found he supplied Port with "Liquid G (GHB), poppers, T and M (crystal meth and MDMA)" between August and October.

Hirons' activity on the app also showed Mr Taylor previously refusing to take drugs, saying he would lose his job as a forklift truck driver if he failed a drug test. The two men had coincidentally hooked up via Grindr in June 2015.

Three months later, Port met Mr Taylor at Barking Station after meeting via Grindr and later killed him dumping his body in a graveyard.

Hirons admitted six drugs charges and one of possession of criminal property in October and was jailed at Snaresbrook Crown Court on November 8.

The family of Stephen Port's third murder victim have vowed to fight on for answers on the police handling of the case.

Daniel Whitworth's stepmother Mandy Pearson made a statement outside the Old Bailey on behalf of his father Adam and the rest of his family.

She said the "circle of camaraderie" among the affected families had helped see them through the "dark days".

The family of Stephen Port's last murder victim said that their loved one would be alive today if police had "done their job".

Jack Taylor's death was at first dismissed as "just another drug overdose", his mother and sisters said in a statement outside court after Port's conviction.

Mr Taylor, 25, was found dead near found dead near Barking Abbey graveyard on September 14 2015, in almost identical circumstances to Port's other victims.

Outside court, his mother Jeanette and sisters Jenny and Donna said in a statement: "We do believe Jack would still be here if they had done their job."

They said they "definitely" plan to sue the Metropolitan Police adding it should "be held accountable for Jack's death".

Police are re-examining 58 unexplained deaths in London involving the drug GHB over a four-year period following the conviction of Stephen Port.

Commander Stuart Cundy of the Met's Specialist Crime and Operations Command said the cases were being scrutinised to ensure that foul play has not been missed in other cases.

He said that work was being done to improve officers' understanding of so-called "chemsex" - when gay men take drugs before having sex - and to make sure officers could spot when a death might be suspicious.

Investigators have also appealed for any other men who may have been sexually assaulted or raped by Port to come forward.

Seventeen police officers are facing investigation for possible misconduct over failures in catching serial killer Stephen Port.

Scotland Yard admitted "potential opportunities" were missed and investigators failed to see "striking similarities" between the deaths of Port's four victims.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is investigating whether homophobia played a part in the errors.

The family of Jack Taylor, the fourth man to die at Port's hands, plan to sue Scotland Yard and say the killer would not have been stopped if they had not fought for a full investigation.

Grindr serial killer Stephen Port has been found guilty of the murder of a fourth victim.

The 41-year-old was convicted at the Old Bailey of the murder of Anthony Walgate, 23.

He was earlier found guilty of the murder of three other men - Jack Taylor, Daniel Whitworth and Gabriel Kovari - to fulfil his depraved sexual fantasies.

The 41-year-old chef stalked his victims on dating websites and plied them with drinks spiked with fatal amounts of drug GHB to rape them while they were unconscious.