ecepts: 'Serial killer' accused of poisoning and murdering four young men

An alleged serial killer drugged and killed four men over more than a year, a court was told today.

Stephen John Port, 40, appeared in court this morning charged with four counts of murder.

The suspect, Cooke Street, Barking in east London, spoke quietly and quickly to confirm his name, date of birth and address.

In a prison-issue grey tracksuit, Port looked down at the ground as the case against him was briefly summarised.

He was arrested last week by detectives from the Met police over the deaths of four men found in or near a cemetery close to his house.

Accused: Port, of Cooke Street, Barking, has also been charged with four counts of administering a poison with intent to endanger life or inflict grievous bodily harm

The first alleged victim, Anthony Walgate, 23, originally from Hull but studying in Barnet, north London, at the time of his death, was discovered in June 2014.

Then the same unlucky dog walker found two bodies - those of Slovakian Gabriel Kovari, 22, and Daniel Whitworth, 21, an aspiring chef from Kent - in the grounds of St Margaret’s church, Barking, east London, within a month of each other in August and September 2014.

St Margaret's Parish Church Barking — Crime scene: Two bodies were found at the St Margaret's Parish Church in Barking

Police at the time said they were not treating the deaths as suspicious.

But after the body of warehouse forklift truck driver Jack Taylor, 25, from Dagenham, was found near the Abbey Ruins next to St Margaret's, on September 14 this year, an investigation was launched by the force's murder squad.

Port was arrested last week and charged last night with four counts of murder and four counts of administering a poison with intent to endanger life or inflict grievous bodily harm.

At Redbridge magistrates' court today, Paul Nagle, prosecuting, said the alleged killer and victims met "over the internet through a gay website".