Stephen Port, 40, faces multiple counts relating to deaths in which he is alleged to have poisoned men with fatal amounts of party drug GHB

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

An alleged serial killer has appeared in court charged with poisoning four young men he met on gay social networking websites and dumping their bodies near a churchyard.

Stephen Port, 40, is accused of using the party drug GHB to fatally poison the men over a period of 15 months.

Port was flanked by three uniformed officers at a hearing before Barkingside magistrates court in east London on Monday.

He spoke only to confirm his name and address before being remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey in central London on Wednesday.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest An artist’s impression of Stephen Port as he appeared in court. Photograph: Priscilla Coleman/MB Media

On Monday evening, Scotland Yard said it had referred itself to the Independent Police Complaints Commission over “potential vulnerabilities” in its response to the four deaths.

Port is alleged to have invited the four men back to his house where they were given large amounts of GHB, a party drug usually sold as odourless and colourless capsules. Prosecutor Paul Nagle told the court that all four men had overdosed on the drug.

The bodies of two of the victims were found by a dog walker less than a month apart in the churchyard of St Margaret’s church in North Street in Barking, while another was found near the ruins of Barking Abbey.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jack Taylor, Daniel Whitworth, Anthony Walgate, three of the alleged victims. Photograph: Facebook/Twitter

Port’s father, Albert Port, 73, told the Guardian on Monday night that he was “in complete shock” at the allegations and that he did not think his son capable of carrying out the actions alleged. “No way, nothing like that,” he said.

He said he first learned of the allegations on Sunday night when his son telephoned him from the police station, but that police had not told him any more.

Port, who lives with his 74-year-old wife Joan in Dagenham, Essex, described his son as very quiet, easygoing and “won’t speak a lot”.

He said Stephen was “just an ordinary working person” and worked as a chef for bus drivers.

Anthony Walgate, a fashion and design student at the University of Middlesex, was the first to be found dead by police in Barking early in the morning of 19 June 2014. Sarah Sak, the mother of the popular 23-year-old, told the Hull Daily Mail last October of the “traumatic” wait for the toxicology results into his cause of death, which she learned about while on holiday in Turkey.

“It took three days for me to find out my son had died,” she said. “I had my mobile phone switched off. One day I switched it on and realised I had hundreds of messages. I knew then that something awful had happened. I was in total shock. I was hysterical.”

A dog walker found the body of Gabriel Kovari, 22, from Lewisham, close to the churchyard of St Margaret’s church on 28 August 2014. The body of Daniel Whitworth, 21, from Gravesend, Kent, was found close to the same churchyard, on 20 September.

Kovari’s family described him as “full of love and care for others” in a statement issued during an inquest at Walthamstow coroner’s court in June. The 22-year-old’s mother and brother said at the time: “He had been a very inquisitive and special child gifted in arts. He had excellent relationships with all his relatives and the desire to prove himself to the world.”

Coroner Nadia Persaud read a statement from Whitworth’s father, Adam Whitworth, which described his son as a happy man who loved gardening. “He was an active and intelligent outdoors boy who loved days on his bike exploring leafy byways,” it read. “Those who knew him were shocked by this terrible news.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest St Margaret’s parish church in Barking. The bodies of the victims were found nearby. Photograph: Alamy

The fourth alleged victim was Jack Taylor, 25, a forklift operator from Dagenham whose body was found near the abbey ruins close to North Street on 14 September this year, 300 yards from St Margaret’s churchyard.

Barking and Dagenham police had initially ruled out a connection between the four deaths, but later referred the cases to Scotland Yard’s homicide unit.

Wearing a grey tracksuit and standing with his hands folded in front of him, Port was told by deputy district judge Shlomo Kreiman that his case would be transferred to the Old Bailey.



He gave no indication of plea to the four charges of murder or four counts of “administering a poison with intent to endanger life or inflict grievous bodily harm”.

GHB, or gammahydroxybutrate, can produce a feeling of euphoria, reduce inhibitions and cause sleepiness, according to the drugs advice website Talk to Frank. It is illegal to own or supply the Class C drug, with sentences ranging up to two years in prison for possession and 14 years in jail for supplying GHB.

Talk to Frank warns that the drug is “particularly dangerous when used with alcohol” and that it can cause unconsciousness, coma and death.