Stephen Port: Serial killer loved meeting very young men, inquests told

Serial killer Stephen Port had a "voracious appetite" for meeting "very young" men, an inquest has heard.

Port, who is serving a whole-life term for murdering four men using the date-rape drug GHB, also sexually assaulted a number of men.

Inquests are examining whether the Met Police's investigations into the murders were adequate.

Neighbour Ryan Edwards told the hearing he worried Port, who had an "obsession" with toys, had "paedophile tendencies".

Mr Edwards said he became concerned after seeing drugs in Port's east London home.

He raised the issue with Port but was reassured by him that his interest in young men was legal and that the drugs were for personal use only.

Anthony Walgate, Gabriel Kovari, Daniel Whitworth, and Jack Taylor, who were all in their early 20s, were killed by overdoses of GHB administered by Port, between June 2014 and September 2015. He dumped their bodies near his flat in Barking.

GHB (gammahydroxybutrate) has a medical use in the treatment of narcolepsy, a rare sleep disorder.

It depresses the central nervous system, causing drowsiness and euphoria; and it can reduce inhibitions.

There is only a small difference between the dose causing the desired effects and the dose leading to overdose and death. If not sufficiently diluted, it can also burn the part of the body via which it is administered.

The inquests are taking place at Barking Town Hall, just yards from the flat where Port's victims were murdered.

Mr Edwards told inquest jurors he struck up a friendship with Port due to them being neighbours and members of Barking's LGBT community.

He said Port would frequently invite him over to meet his new partners, who were "very young - 16, 17 sometimes, very close to the age of consent".

Mr Edwards said: "Often there were difficult circumstances, broken homes, needing somewhere to stay, vulnerable.

"I was wondering if he was bordering on paedophile tendencies, but I didn't have any evidence."

Mr Edwards added: "He had a voracious appetite for meeting guys and I was always astonished at how he was able to meet so many - he wasn't exactly 'Mr Personality'."

He said he once found one of Port's "new guys" unable to speak and spotted drugs paraphernalia on the coffee table.

Mr Edwards said he would have reported concerns about Port's young companions if there was any evidence of criminal activity, as he had done with a previous friend.

He also described how Port, now 46, loved playing with Transformers toys, specifically the ones designed for children.

"I took Stephen for his quirks, and there were many," he said.

The inquests continue.