Accused Gay Dating Site Killer Stephen Port Was ‘Obsessed With Drug Rape’ Pornography
The trial of the chef accused of drugging and murdering men he met through a number of gay dating sites has started.
The court was told by the prosecution that the 41-year-old charged with killing four young men and drugging & assaulting eight others was obsessed with “drug rape” pornography.
Jonathan Rees QC prosecuting said: “All of the offending behaviour was driven by one main factor, namely the defendant’s appetite for having sexual intercourse with younger, gay males while they were unconscious through drugs.
“This is a case about a man who in the pursuit of nothing more than his own sexual gratification, variously drugged, sexually assaulted and in four cases killed young gay men he had invited back to his flat.”
The chef was arrested last October when four deaths were linked after police found Jack Taylor, 25, in the ruins of Barking Abbey last September.
Port is also accused of killing 23-year-old student Anthony Walgate, trainee chef Daniel Whitworth, 21, and 22-year-old artist Gabriel Kovari.
And in July it was revealed that the London chef had been charged with 17 new counts related to attacks on eight different men.
The prosecutor said Port, who denies the charges, met the men through online services including Grindr, Sleepyboys and Fitlads.
The four men who died were all found nearby Port’s Barking flat, three in a churchyard and one outside the chef’s block of flats.
Rees said: “Each victim was dragged to the position where he was found and three were propped up in a sitting position.
“Each victim’s mobile telephone was missing, and in each case, the defendant lied to the police about his knowledge of and involvement with the deceased.”
Port denies the four counts of murder, four counts of administering a substance with intent to stupefy or overpower to engage in sexual activity, along with seven counts of rape, six charges of administering a substance with intent to overpower to allow non-consensual sexual activity, and four counts of assault by penetration.
Prosecuting, Rees told the court: “It offends against common sense to suggest that it was just an unfortunate coincidence that all of these men happened to die from an overdose featuring high levels of GHB shortly after meeting the defendant.
“There is clearly a common factor underlying the explanation as to why each victim suffered an overdose, and that common factor is the defendant.
“The considerable efforts that he went to cover up his connection with each of the deceased indicates that it was he, rather than the deceased themselves, who was responsible for the fatal overdoses.”
The trial continues.
