‘Keystone cops’ failed Port’s first victim, parents tell inquest
Anthony Walgate was found dead outside Stephen Port’s flat in Barking, east London, in 2014.
Anthony Walgate was found dead outside Stephen Port’s flat in Barking, east London, in 2014.
Anthony Walgate was found dead outside Stephen Port’s flat in Barking, east London, in 2014.
Senior Crown Prosecutor Andrew Held was asked to advise on charging Stephen Port, an inquest heard.
The officer said he wishes he had ‘pushed harder’ to get specialist murder detectives to take over the case.
Temporary Superintendent Mike Hamer told colleagues he wanted the more senior MIT (murder investigation team) to take on the ‘complex’ case.
Stephen Port mentioned an incident that should have alerted the Met’s homicide command when he was interviewed after the death of his first victim.
DS Martin O’Donnell made the admission on the tenth day of hearings at Barking Town Hall into the deaths of four young, gay men.
Detective Sergeant Martin O’Donnell did not share intelligence about the serial killer’s past, or search the police database, an inquest heard.
Detective Constable David Parish said he spent the years since Port’s victim was first discovered ‘wishing’ he had acted differently.
Stephen Port killed four men with overdoses of the drug GHB between June 2014 and September 2015.
China Dunning told an inquest into Anthony Walgate’s death she feared police wrongly assumed the gay sex worker had overdosed.
Anthony Walgate, 23, was killed by Stephen Port in 2014.
An inquest heard that the death of Anthony Walgate was initially classified as ‘unexplained’ rather than ‘suspicious’.
Police believe Stephen Port wrapped his victims’ bodies in bed sheets and carried them to the sites where they were found.
Paramedic Antony Neil said it was highly unusual to find the deceased sitting upright with legs crossed.