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| Stephen Port told his sister of dead body in his bedroom, court hears | Stephen Port told his sister of dead body in his bedroom, court hears |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Alleged serial killer Stephen Port told his sister he had a dead body in his bedroom around the time the body of his second alleged murder victim was found propped against a wall in a local churchyard, the Old Bailey has heard. | |
| Sharon Port, 44, from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, telephoned her younger brother in August 2014 to find him “very distressed”. | Sharon Port, 44, from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, telephoned her younger brother in August 2014 to find him “very distressed”. |
| “I asked him to tell me why he was stressed and what was wrong. He didn’t want to tell me at first,” she told jurors on Thursday. | |
| “He just said there was a body in his flat. I just told him to go to the police station straight away. It was a bit of a shock.” | “He just said there was a body in his flat. I just told him to go to the police station straight away. It was a bit of a shock.” |
| It is alleged Port, 41, had a “fetish” for sex with young, drugged, unconscious males, and drugged his victims at his Barking flat with the “date rape” drug GHB. He denies 29 charges against 12 young men, including four murders, seven rapes, four indecent assaults and administering a substance with intent. | It is alleged Port, 41, had a “fetish” for sex with young, drugged, unconscious males, and drugged his victims at his Barking flat with the “date rape” drug GHB. He denies 29 charges against 12 young men, including four murders, seven rapes, four indecent assaults and administering a substance with intent. |
| The four he allegedly murdered are Anthony Walgate, 23, originally from Hull; Gabriel Kovari, 22, originally from Slovakia; Daniel Whitworth, 21, from Gravesend; and Jack Taylor, 25, from Dagenham, east London. | |
| Port smiled in the dock as his sister, who was called as a prosecution witness, entered the court. She told the court the conversation about the body in the flat took place on 27 August 2014, two weeks after she had started a new job as a retail assistant for a clothing company. | Port smiled in the dock as his sister, who was called as a prosecution witness, entered the court. She told the court the conversation about the body in the flat took place on 27 August 2014, two weeks after she had started a new job as a retail assistant for a clothing company. |
| The court has heard the body of Kovari was found in the grounds of St Margaret’s church, Barking, on 28 August 2014. | |
| Judge Mr Justice Openshaw asked her if she understood the body her brother was talking about to be dead. | Judge Mr Justice Openshaw asked her if she understood the body her brother was talking about to be dead. |
| “Yes,” she replied. | “Yes,” she replied. |
| She said she understood “that he had stayed the night with my brother, and when he woke up in the morning he wasn’t moving. They had taken some drugs, but I didn’t know what.” | She said she understood “that he had stayed the night with my brother, and when he woke up in the morning he wasn’t moving. They had taken some drugs, but I didn’t know what.” |
| Prosecuting, Jonathan Rees QC asked: “Did your brother give any indication of how long this person had been in this state?” | Prosecuting, Jonathan Rees QC asked: “Did your brother give any indication of how long this person had been in this state?” |
| “One day and a night,” she replied. | “One day and a night,” she replied. |
| Asked what her brother, a chef at a bus depot in West Ham, had been doing during that time, she replied: “Working.” | Asked what her brother, a chef at a bus depot in West Ham, had been doing during that time, she replied: “Working.” |
| She understood the body was in her brother’s bedroom. Rees asked: “Did it follow that he [Port] had been in the flat overnight when the body had been there?” | She understood the body was in her brother’s bedroom. Rees asked: “Did it follow that he [Port] had been in the flat overnight when the body had been there?” |
| She replied: “Yes. I just told him to go to the police station.” | She replied: “Yes. I just told him to go to the police station.” |
| Asked to raise her voice so the jury could hear, she replied: “It’s not a nice memory.” | |
| She said: “He said he was going to go the police station. I told him to go the police station straight away. I felt sick. It’s not the sort of things you hear every day. I was worried. I just wanted him to drop everything and to go to the police station and to ring me when he got out to tell me what had happened.” | She said: “He said he was going to go the police station. I told him to go the police station straight away. I felt sick. It’s not the sort of things you hear every day. I was worried. I just wanted him to drop everything and to go to the police station and to ring me when he got out to tell me what had happened.” |
| Port’s sister said he later texted her at about 5pm to say he was on his way to the police station. Having failed to reach him by telephone, she and her boyfriend drove over to Port’s flat the following day. On the way he called to say he had been released on police bail, she said. | Port’s sister said he later texted her at about 5pm to say he was on his way to the police station. Having failed to reach him by telephone, she and her boyfriend drove over to Port’s flat the following day. On the way he called to say he had been released on police bail, she said. |
| When they got to his flat, she found him to be “fairly stressed, very tired”. His nose was a “little bit crusty” but it could have been hay fever, she said. “I can’t be 100% sure it was because of drugs.” | When they got to his flat, she found him to be “fairly stressed, very tired”. His nose was a “little bit crusty” but it could have been hay fever, she said. “I can’t be 100% sure it was because of drugs.” |
| Rees asked her: “Did you learn any more about the body in the flat?” | Rees asked her: “Did you learn any more about the body in the flat?” |
| She replied: “Not really. He didn’t really talk a lot. He was very subdued. | She replied: “Not really. He didn’t really talk a lot. He was very subdued. |
| “He just said he was on bail and that was that, really. He had to go back in a month or two. I assumed it was all sorted. I came home, and that was that really.” | “He just said he was on bail and that was that, really. He had to go back in a month or two. I assumed it was all sorted. I came home, and that was that really.” |
| Port was jailed in March 2015 for eight months for perverting the course of justice over a police statement he gave when the body of his first alleged victim, Anthony Walgate, was found propped up outside the communal entrance to his flat in June 2014. | Port was jailed in March 2015 for eight months for perverting the course of justice over a police statement he gave when the body of his first alleged victim, Anthony Walgate, was found propped up outside the communal entrance to his flat in June 2014. |
| His sister said Port later told her the body in his flat was that of someone called Anthony who was Lithuanian. | His sister said Port later told her the body in his flat was that of someone called Anthony who was Lithuanian. |
| Cross-examined by David Etherington QC for the defence, she said Port told her in March 2015 that “the conversation in August 2014, there wasn’t a body in the flat, he was talking about Anthony”. | Cross-examined by David Etherington QC for the defence, she said Port told her in March 2015 that “the conversation in August 2014, there wasn’t a body in the flat, he was talking about Anthony”. |
| She described her brother as “quiet” and said he had been “bullied at school”. He was 26 when he came out, but their mother found it hard, she said. | She described her brother as “quiet” and said he had been “bullied at school”. He was 26 when he came out, but their mother found it hard, she said. |
| She said she knew nothing of drug use until that telephone conversation. | She said she knew nothing of drug use until that telephone conversation. |
| It is alleged Port trawled social media sites including Grindr and Fitlads to meet young, boyish-looking gay men, invited them to his flat, and either spiked their drinks with GHB or injected it into their backsides to render them unconscious so he could live out his drug-rape fantasies. | It is alleged Port trawled social media sites including Grindr and Fitlads to meet young, boyish-looking gay men, invited them to his flat, and either spiked their drinks with GHB or injected it into their backsides to render them unconscious so he could live out his drug-rape fantasies. |
| The case continues. | The case continues. |