London (dpa) – London’s police force has come under fire for failing to stop a serial killer who was convicted on Wednesday of killing four young men he met on gay dating sites including popular app Grindr.
Forty-one-year-old chef Stephen Port, from east London, spiked his victims’ drinks with fatal amounts of the drug GHB so he could rape them while they were unconscious at his home.
He was found guilty of murdering four men between the ages of 21 and 25, and drugging and sexually assaulting seven other victims.
Commander Stuart Cundy from the Metropolitan Police said that Port deliberately set out to administer such a large quantity of drugs that it killed his victims.
“He then dumped their bodies a stone’s throw away from his flat before going to great lengths to cover his tracks,” he added.
A user holds a phone with the Tinder dating app on it. London·s police force has come under fire for failing to stop a serial killer who was convicted on Wednesday of killing four young men he met on gay dating sites including popular app Grindr. (archive) Photo: Johannes Schmitt-Tegge/dpa +++(c) dpa – Bildfunk+++
Cundy called Port “a highly devious, manipulative and self-obsessed individual who has not once shown a shred of remorse for his actions.”
Port lied to police, disposed of his victims’ mobile phones and even planted a fake suicide note on one of the corpses in a bid to throw police off his scent.
The Metropolitan Police are currently being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) for how they handled the investigation into to the four deaths amid claims they missed opportunities to catch Port sooner.
The parents of one victim, 25-year-old Jack Taylor, told the Press Association they are planning to sue the Metropolitan Police.
Port will be sentenced on November 25.
-dpa
