Grindr serial killer Stephen Port jailed for life for four murders

Stephen Port has been sentenced to a whole life term for murdering four young men by poisoning them with a date rape drug so that he could have sex with them while they were unconscious.

The 41-year-old chef was told on Friday he would die in prison for killing Anthony Walgate, 23, Jack Taylor, 25, Daniel Whitworth, 21, and Gabriel Kovari, 22.

The serial killer sought his victims on dating websites including Grindr and dumped their bodies within 500m of his flat in Barking, East London.

Relatives of the victims cheered and applauded as Mr Justice Openshaw told Port he would never be released.

One woman in the public gallery of the courtroom at the Old Bailey in central London called Port a "scumbag", while a man shouted: "I hope you die a long slow death you piece of s***."

Jurors heard Port disposed of his victims' mobile phones, repeatedly lied to police and planted a fake suicide note in the hand of one of his victims that accepted blame for the death of another.

The deaths of the four men - over a period of 15 months - bore striking similarities but police failed to make the link until relatives of his final victim demanded answers.

Two of the victims' bodies were discovered near a churchyard - by the same dog walker.

:: Police officers investigated over failings in Stephen Port case

Port used GHB, a sedative known as a date rape drug, spiking their drinks or injecting it into his victims before they realised what he was doing.

They died of a fatal overdose. Eight others survived.

The judge told Port he had carried out the killings to "satisfy his lust" and described his attempts to cover up two of his murders as "wicked and monstrous".

He was found guilty of the killings following a trial, and also convicted of a string of sex offences including rape and sexual assault.

In mitigation, David Etheridge QC said his client's life "descended into a vortex" of drug taking and sexual fulfillment.

"He graduated from a fetish to a fixation, from a fixation to a compulsion," he said.

In statements ahead of the sentencing, relatives of the victims told of their "devastated and broken" families and how their lives had been turned "upside down" by Port's murderous sexual obsession.

Outside court, Mr Taylor's sister, Donna, said the family "finally have justice for Jack", adding that "sick and twisted" Port "will never be able to hurt or destroy any other family's life".

Detective Chief Inspector Tim Duffield said Port was "one of the most dangerous individuals" he had encountered in almost 28 years of policing, and the whole life term was "the only appropriate punishment".

A total of 17 police officers are being investigated over their handling of the case, seven of whom could face the sack if found to be guilty of gross misconduct.

The Met is also re-examining 58 unexplained deaths in recent years involving the drug GHB.