Homophobic Assumptions "Cannot Be Ignored" In Stephen Port Case Failures

A report by the Metropolitan Police, seen by Channel 4, says that the assumptions about gay men that were made by officers investigating serial killer Stephen Port "cannot be ignored," and may have contributed to the failures in handling the case.

Port, 47, originally from Southend-on-Sea but living in Dagenham, murdered gay and bisexual men he met on dating apps between 2014 and 2015 before being arrested.

Relatives of the victims, including 21-year-old Daniel Whitworth's partner, Ricky Waumsley, have expressed their outrage at the way the Metropolitan Police have handled the case, with Waumsley going as far as to accuse the force of homophobia. A report from the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has now found that "the public cannot be satisfied that police are making decisions based on evidence and fact," and that officers had made assumptions about the lifestyles of gay men which affected their investigations.

“The investigations into the four deaths reveal that assumptions were made and could have been based, consciously or unconsciously, on discriminatory views,” the unpublished report claims, although the Metropolitan Police claim that the investigations were hindered not by homophobia but a lack of "personal curiosity" by officers.

An inquest last year found that three of Port's four victims may still have been alive if not for police failures.

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