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| Stephen Port: Met to be re-investigated over serial killer | Stephen Port: Met to be re-investigated over serial killer |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| The young men killed by Port: Anthony Walgate, Gabriel Kovari, Daniel Whitworth and Jack Taylor | The young men killed by Port: Anthony Walgate, Gabriel Kovari, Daniel Whitworth and Jack Taylor |
| The way the Met Police initially handled the deaths of four men murdered by serial killer Stephen Port is to be re-investigated by the police watchdog. | The way the Met Police initially handled the deaths of four men murdered by serial killer Stephen Port is to be re-investigated by the police watchdog. |
| Port is serving a whole-life sentence for the murders of Anthony Walgate, Gabriel Kovari, Daniel Whitworth and Jack Taylor in Barking, East London. | Port is serving a whole-life sentence for the murders of Anthony Walgate, Gabriel Kovari, Daniel Whitworth and Jack Taylor in Barking, East London. |
| The deaths were not seen as suspicious by police until after the fourth death. | |
| The families' solicitor said police had "blood on their hands", adding: "It is time for them to be held accountable." | |
| "Basic failings" in the way the police handled the four men's deaths were identified at a jury inquest last year. | |
| In 2019, the police watchdog, the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC), decided no officers had a case to answer for misconduct or gross misconduct as a result of the failures to catch the serial killer until after the fourth killing. | In 2019, the police watchdog, the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC), decided no officers had a case to answer for misconduct or gross misconduct as a result of the failures to catch the serial killer until after the fourth killing. |
| Now the IOPC has said there were "material flaws" in its own investigation which, along with new information, much of which was heard at the inquest, the watchdog has decided to re-open its investigation. | Now the IOPC has said there were "material flaws" in its own investigation which, along with new information, much of which was heard at the inquest, the watchdog has decided to re-open its investigation. |
| Stephen Port is serving a whole-life prison term for the four murders | |
| Regional Director Graham Beesley said: "Due to the size of the original investigation and the amount of information it obtained, this has been a complex task." | Regional Director Graham Beesley said: "Due to the size of the original investigation and the amount of information it obtained, this has been a complex task." |
| Between June 2014 and September 2015, Port murdered Anthony Walgate, 23, originally from Hull, Gabriel Kovari, 22, from Lewisham, Daniel Whitworth, 21, from Gravesend, Kent, and Jack Taylor, 25, from Dagenham, east London. | Between June 2014 and September 2015, Port murdered Anthony Walgate, 23, originally from Hull, Gabriel Kovari, 22, from Lewisham, Daniel Whitworth, 21, from Gravesend, Kent, and Jack Taylor, 25, from Dagenham, east London. |
| He met his victims online, including through the dating app Grindr, before luring them to his flat where they were drugged and raped. The men had all been given fatal overdoses of date-rape drug GHB. | He met his victims online, including through the dating app Grindr, before luring them to his flat where they were drugged and raped. The men had all been given fatal overdoses of date-rape drug GHB. |
| 'Blood on hands' | |
| In 2016, Port was found guilty of the four murders and attacking several other men. | |
| The families' solicitor Neil Hudgell said relatives had been "left traumatised by their treatment at the hands of the police". | |
| "The inadequate investigations by the Metropolitan Police into the four deaths is one of the most widespread institutional failures in modern history, exacerbated by a woeful lack of remorse, regret or sympathy displayed at the inquests by some of the officers involved," Mr Hudgell added. | |
| "Port was jailed for life, but the police have blood on their hands too. It is time for them to be held accountable." | |
| Follow BBC London on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hellobbclondon@bbc.co.uk | Follow BBC London on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hellobbclondon@bbc.co.uk |