Stephen Port serial murders: Families of victims receive Met pay-outon August 30, 2022 at 6:45 am

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The families of three of Stephen Port’s four victims settle their civil claims against the force.

Stephen Port victims (L-R): Anthony Walgate, Gabriel Kovari, Daniel Whitworth and Jack Taylor

The families of three men murdered by Stephen Port have received payments from the Met Police over its “investigatory failings”.

Serial killer and rapist Port is serving a whole-life term for murdering four men in Barking, east London.

The deaths were not regarded suspicious until weeks after the fourth murder.

On Monday, the force said it had settled claims with relatives of Anthony Walgate and Gabriel Kovari, as well as Daniel Whitworth’s partner.

Port also murdered Jack Taylor.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is reinvestigating the Met over its initial handling of their cases.

The watchdog said there was evidence the original probe into the conduct of officers was “materially flawed”.

It added new information had come forward at inquests last year into the deaths of the four men between 2014-15.

In a statement, the Met said: “We have previously apologised to the families for the police failings in this matter and understand the impact these have had and the distress caused. We apologise again now.

“Our thoughts and sympathies are with the families as always.”

Stephen Port

Image source, Met Police

In January, a coroner’s report on the deaths of Port’s victims identified a “large number of very serious and very basic investigative failings” by police, including a “lack of professional curiosity” about the cases.

The report, by Sarah Munro QC, also expressed concern over how deaths were classified as “unexplained” rather than suspicious.

An inquest jury found officers in Barking missed repeated opportunities to catch Port after he plied his first victim, Mr Walgate, with a fatal dose of the date-rape drug GHB and dumped his body.

Port struck three more times before he was caught, killing each victim in near-identical circumstances, with police failing to link him to the deaths despite detective work carried out by the victims’ family and friends that would lead to the culprit.

He killed his final victim, Jack Taylor, after being released early from prison.

Families of the four men believed that homophobia played a part in the failings.

Officers had denied accusations of prejudice and homophobia, blaming mistakes on being understaffed and lacking resources.

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