Facts:
Between June 2014 and September 2015 Stephen Port drugged, sexually assaulted and murdered four young men in East London. Despite the similarities between the deaths, the Metropolitan Police Service failed to recognise that they may have been connected.
Port is openly gay and arranged to meet sexual partners through online dating apps using fake names for his profiles. He had used a drug choice Gamma-hydroxybutyrate as a sedative. He was arrested for murder in October 2015 and in November 2016 convicted for all 4 murders and 22 offences against 7 other men. He was charged and sentenced to life imprisonment.
He had no criminal convictions when he had committed his first murder but came to the police attention on two occasions. The police response to the first death and the following three were unacceptable. The police had treated each case in isolation and did not look for obvious links betwee cases. They believed it was self-administered drug overfose despite the deaths had identical circumstances.
December 2021 Sophie Linden (Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime) requested a conduct of inspection following the inquest of the murders. The purpose of the inspection was to establish whether the Metropolitan Police Service understood their failed actions. A further inspection took place between May and November 2022.
R v Stephen Port - Sentencing remarks of Mr Justice Openshaw:
After trial, Stephen Port was sentenced for the conviction of four separate offences of murder. The evidence produced to the court and jury consisted of four weeks of delivery. The evidence established that his sexual preference was penetrating young men who he made unconscious via the administration of drugs. The drug can be dissolved power or liquid, colourless and can be used to spike a drink without detection. The murders were committed as part of a persistent course of conduct of the defendant drugging these men so he could penetrate in them unconscious. There was a significant degree of planning into obtaining the drugs in advance and luring the victims to his flat. After killing them by overdose, he had abandoned their bodies in a manner that robbed their dignity and increased distress to their families. The sexual offence and rapes was acted by the defendant over an extended period of time. He had persistent course of conduct involving drugging young men for penetration whilst unconscious. The spiking of drinks and anal insertion intended to render the victim unconscious and there was evidence of a significant degree of planning. The rape of one of the victims was recorded and the rape of another victim who was vulnerable (result in an abuse of trust).
The failure of the Metropolitan Police Service:
If the police had conducted a professional and thorough investigation after Anthony Walgates death (the first victim) it would be likely the other three would still be alive. The coroner who held the inquests had said that there were a "large number of very serious and very basic investigative failings".
Investigations become flawed due to the errors of the Metropolitan police service acting in the case:
- There is not enough training provided to instil officers of an investigative mindset. Training on coronial matters, sudden death and lessons learned from the Port case.
- Oversight and supervision are poor. Inexperienced response officers to report of an unexpected death.
- Record keeping is unacceptable. The poor quality death reports with basic details are incorrectly recorded, confused case-management systems and incorrect exhibits.
- Policy and guidance is confusing.
- Intelligence and crime analysis processes are inadequate.
Stephen Port report:
An inspection of the Metropolitan police service response to lessons from the Stephen Port murders was published in April 2023. The police force had stated that they have no updated the training for frontline officers and begun a programme of enhanced training for their supervisors. The turn around proposed by the police force is to deliver the mission of more trust, less crime and high standards.
Death investigation policy and guidance:
The Metropolitan police service officers can consult policy and guidance when responding to unexpected deaths and investigating suspicious deaths. They revised death investigation policy, now being comprehensive and well intended. A substantive sergeant or above should attend all reports of a sudden death, and introduced categories for reports of death. They are introducing an integrated intelligence IT system called CONNECT, transforming the force ability to record and interrogate information. The categorisation of death will be in accordance with circumstances. It determines the level of response and nature of the investigation, specialist homicide detectives need to be involved.
The judge had rule that the defendant was highly dangerous. Offence of rape and assault by penetration was punishable to life imprisonment under Section 225 Criminal Justice Act 2003. Sentencing guidelines referred to 20 years or more as being appropriate. Each count of rape and assault and penetration accounted to 22 years, life sentence with a minimum of 11 years per count. Therefore he would serve a minimum of 44 years.
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