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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/nov/23/serial-killer-stephen-port-guilty-of-murders-of-three-men
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Stephen Port found guilty of murders of four men | Stephen Port found guilty of murders of four men |
(35 minutes later) | |
Stephen Port, a chef from London, has been convicted of the murders of four young gay men he met through dating websites. | Stephen Port, a chef from London, has been convicted of the murders of four young gay men he met through dating websites. |
The 41-year-old, who used dating apps such as Grindr to meet his victims, drugged them with fatal amounts of GHB to rape them before dumping some of their bodies in or near a graveyard close to his flat in Barking, east London, the Old Bailey had heard. | The 41-year-old, who used dating apps such as Grindr to meet his victims, drugged them with fatal amounts of GHB to rape them before dumping some of their bodies in or near a graveyard close to his flat in Barking, east London, the Old Bailey had heard. |
Port was convicted unanimously of the murders of Gabriel Kovari, Daniel Whitworth and Jack Taylor, and by a majority verdict of 11-1 of the murder of Anthony Walgate. The jury of 10 women and two men convicted him of 17 offences against a number of victims, including the four murders. These charges included seven counts of administering a substance, three rapes and three sexual assaults. | |
Jurors have yet to reach verdicts relating to other charges. Mr Justice Openshaw has told jurors he will accept a majority of at least 10 to two on the remaining counts. | Jurors have yet to reach verdicts relating to other charges. Mr Justice Openshaw has told jurors he will accept a majority of at least 10 to two on the remaining counts. |
Port, who is due to be sentenced on Friday, gave no reaction from the dock when the guilty verdicts were read out. He had denied all charges. | |
The court was told that police had failed to make a link until after the death of Taylor, the last person to die at Port’s hand. | The court was told that police had failed to make a link until after the death of Taylor, the last person to die at Port’s hand. |
Jurors were told Port had embarked on cover-ups after the deaths, including trying to implicate Whitworth, 21, in the death of Kovari, 22, by faking a suicide note supposedly written by Whitworth saying he had taken his own life in guilt after accidentally giving Kovari too much GHB during sex. | |
The jury has been told that Walgate, 23, a fashion student whose body was found in June 2014 propped up outside the communal entrance to the building where Port lived in a one-bedroom flat, was his first murder victim. | |
Port was convicted of the murder of Kovari, originally from Slovakia and temporarily living in Port’s flat, whose body was found in the grounds of St Margaret’s church, around 500 metres from Port’s flat. | Port was convicted of the murder of Kovari, originally from Slovakia and temporarily living in Port’s flat, whose body was found in the grounds of St Margaret’s church, around 500 metres from Port’s flat. |
Whitworth’s body was found in the same graveyard in September 2014, three weeks after Kovari’s. | Whitworth’s body was found in the same graveyard in September 2014, three weeks after Kovari’s. |
The court heard that Taylor, 25, died within hours of hooking up with Port on Grindr in the early hours in September 2015, and was found in the same church grounds. | |
The jury is continuing deliberations. | The jury is continuing deliberations. |