Stephen Port pictured on his Facebook page
Stephen Port denied raping and murdering men he met via gay dating websites Facebook

A serial killer has been found guilty of murdering three men he met on gay dating websites such as Grindr. Stephen Port, 41, used the drug GHB, also known as liquid ecstasy, to poison his victims after luring them to his flat, before dumping their bodies in east London.

He has been found guilty of the murders of Gabriel Kovari, 22, Daniel Whitworth, 21, and Jack Taylor, 25, between June 2014 and September 2015, as well as a series of sexual offences against other men following a trial at the Old Bailey.

A jury is still deliberating one further charge of murder regarding Anthony Patrick Walgate, whose body was found in Cooke Street, Barking, on 19 June 2014.

Port has also been convicted of three rapes, three assaults by penetration and seven offences of administering a substance with intent after he raped his victims while they were unconscious.

During the trial, the court heard how Port viewed "rape porn" online and had a tendency towards young feminine gay men, referred to as 'twinks' in the gay community.

After killing Whitworth, whose body was found on September 20 2014 close to the killer's flat, Port concocted a "wicked" plan to attempt to pass the blame for the killing of Kovari onto the 21-year-old. He placed a fake suicide note into Whitworth's hand in which he 'admitted' to being responsible for Kovari's death.

The note read: "I took the life of my friend Gabriel Kline, we was just having some fun at a mate's place and I got carried away and gave him another shot of G.

"I didn't notice while we was having sex that he had stopped breathing. I tried everything to get him to breathe again but it was too late, it was an accident, but I blame myself for what happened and I didn't tell my family I went out."

Police originally took the note at face value and did not investigate the men's deaths further. It was only after the body of Taylor was found on 14 September 2015 that police began to link all three murders.

In total, Port, a former chef, has been found guilty of 16 offences against nine out of 12 alleged victims, including the three murders, with the jury sent out to reach a verdict for the remaining charges after failing to reach a unanimous decision for the allegations.

Port denied four counts of murder, 10 counts of administering a poison with intent to stupefy or overpower to allow sexual activity, seven counts of rape, and four counts of assault by penetration against 12 alleged victims.