The families of three victims of homosexual serial murderer Stephen Port will get tens of thousands of pounds in compensation according to an agreement reached by Scotland Yard.
The out-of-court agreements with the families of Anthony Walgate, Gabriel Kovari, and Daniel Whitworth’s partner came to light when a fresh inquest into the killings from the previous year exposed a series of deadly errors made by investigators.
Two months after the police watchdog announced a fresh inquiry into suspected wrongdoing by officers involved in the bungled case, the compensation may be made public.
The Metropolitan Police said it had received “ongoing” legal claims from the family of another victim, Jack Taylor, and relatives of Mr. Whitworth.
As a result of the botched search for Port, other settlement agreements are in the works.
The ‘whitewash’ inquiry, which exonerated 17 police of wrongdoing in the probe into Port’s four young men’s killings, was to be revisited, the Daily Mail reported in April.
The cops were charged with heinous errors that hampered the investigation against Port, who carried out a year-long killing rampage until being apprehended in September 2015.
When questioned by investigators, all but one of the 17 officers under investigation for alleged misconduct remained silent.
However, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) decided to open a fresh investigation after an inquest jury found in December that Port’s ‘probable’ ability to kill three more homosexual men after his first murder in 2014 was enabled by ‘basic failings’ to investigate him.
The victims’ relatives said there is still a “huge question mark” about whether homophobia had a role in the faulty police investigations after the change was confirmed in June.
After none of the 17 officers involved in the investigation received disciplinary punishment, the IOPC said it will re-examine how Scotland Yard probed Port’s murders in Barking, east London, between June 2014 and September 2015.
Police failures ‘probably’ led to the deaths of the final three victims, according to the findings of the fresh inquests last year into the deaths of Mr. Walgate, 23, Mr. Kovari, 22, Mr. Whitworth, 21, and Mr. Taylor, 25.
The IOPC said that its decision to reinvestigate the Met was brought on by fresh material presented at those inquests that was “previously unknown to us.”
At the Old Bailey in 2016, Port, then 47, was given a life term for the murders.
The families’ attorney, Neil Hudgell, said that the IOPC’s “only rational option” was to conduct another inquiry.
He said, “The Metropolitan Police’s insufficient investigations into the four fatalities is one of the most pervasive institutional failures in recent history, made worse by a terrible lack of sorrow, regret, or compassion expressed during the inquests by some of the participating officers.”
“The inquests revealed major shortcomings… We anticipate a refocused IOPC investigation.
The family are prepared to help anyway they can. We trust the cops are capable of the same.
In October 2015, the Met turned to the police watchdog after finding issues with their first investigations.
The inquest jury discovered that after Port fatally supplied the date rape drug GHB to Mr. Walgate, cops had many chances to apprehend him.
After the inquiry revealed errors that let Porte walk free for 16 months while cops brushed the killings off as inexplicable and unconnected, despite the fact that the victims were slain in the same manner and dumped within 300 yards of Port’s apartment, critics said the force had “blood on its hands.”
The errors included failing to do simple computer checks on the police database, which would have shown Port had been charged with a nearly similar drug rape two years before and had assaulted another man days before his first murder.
Additionally, when his laptop was confiscated after the first murder, officers failed to check it, which would have revealed his fascination with drug rape and the other 12 victims he sexually abused.
Additionally, police disregarded the fears of the relatives and friends of the victims and neglected to conduct fundamental forensic investigations or look into Port’s travels.
The Met acknowledged in a statement that it had resolved claims from the families of Mr. Walgate, Mr. Kovari, and Mr. Whitworth’s partner and had also received claims from the families of Mr. Taylor and Mr. Whitworth.
It chose not to disclose the financial terms of the settlements reached outside of court.
However, the Mail has learned that Mr. Whitworth’s boyfriend, Ricky Walmsley, has received a five-figure amount from the police.