WHY WAS GRINDR KILLER FREE TO MURDER AGAIN?
Stephen Port was jailed in November 2016 after luring four young, gay men through dating apps so he could drug them to death and rape them.
Just the year before, in March 2015, he was given eight months for perverting the course of justice. He served just under three. Had he served the full sentence, he wouldn’t have been free to murder his fourth victim, Jack Taylor.
Easy Kills, written by Sebastian Murphybates, tracks Port’s life and crimes and questions why this monster was allowed to leave London’s gay community so terrified, for so long...
July 23, 2015, Barking, east London
Stephen is back at 62 Cooke Street, having served under three months in Brixton Prison, south London, for perverting the course of justice. He could have faced another five months inside, had his full sentence been served. That would have put his release date at November 23. But none of that matters now. He’s free to invite whomever he pleases to the flat in which he’s already killed three men.
September 13, 2015, Barking, east London
Jack Taylor is out drinking early into Sunday morning when he decides to call time on his night on the town. He opens the Grindr dating app on his phone and speaks to Stephen. Is he around? They arrange to meet outside Barking train station at 3.15am.
From there, the new acquaintances walk across the town centre to Stephen’s flat. Stephen’s Grindr account vanishes from the platform after he blocks Jack’s profile at around 7.20am. For the fourth time, Stephen has a corpse in his apartment. He stays with Jack’s body for the day while he tries to figure out what to do, though he will eventually settle on a disposal that so far seems to have worked in his favour.
CONTINUED OPPOSITE