The Met was ill prepared when Stephen Port began killing gay men – and it still is | Matt Parr

I hoped to find a police force that had learned from its many mistakes, but even now I cannot give that assurance

  • Matt Parr is HM Inspector of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services

Between June 2014 and September 2015, Stephen Port drugged, sexually assaulted and murdered four young gay men in east London, leading to a police response that was criticised by a coroner for a large number of “very serious and very basic investigative failings”. Eight years after Port murdered his last victim, what has changed in terms of the way the Metropolitan police might cope with similar circumstances? I have looked into that, and the sad answer is not enough.

What happened remains shocking. Anthony Walgate was Port’s first victim. He was found dead outside the block of flats where Port lived, after Port rang 999 to report finding a young man collapsed. Anthony had died from an overdose of GHB, which is sometimes known as the “date rape” drug.

Matt Parr is HM Inspector of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services

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