Who is Grindr Killer Stephen Port and what happened to him?

Stephen Port’s murders take centre stage in Four Lives (Picture: BBC)

BBC’s upcoming drama Four Lives is set to explore the harrowing crimes committed by the serial killer Stephen Port.

The three-part series will follow the friends and families of Port’s victims – Anthony Walgate, Gabriel Kovari, Daniel Whitworth, and Jack Taylor – and their relentless journey to discover the truth about what happened to them.

Stephen Merchant takes on the role of the murderer, also known as the Grindr Killer, while Sheridan Smith portrays Walgate’s mother Sarah Sak.

Here’s everything you need to know on the cold-blooded killer.

What happened to Stephen Port?

Stephen Port, 46, is a convicted serial rapist and serial killer responsible for the murder of four men.

Port will never be released (Picture: PA)

He was initially charged with four counts of murder and four of administering a poison in 2015, but one year later prosecutors added six more counts of administering a poison, seven charges of rape and four of sexual assault.

Port also faced four alternative charges of manslaughter. Appearing via videolink from HM Prison Belmarsh, he denied all charges.

In November 2016, he received a life sentence with a whole life order, meaning he will never be released.

Port met his victims online and on apps and constructed fake biographies in which he made false claims about his background. In one, he pretended to have graduated from Oxford University and served in the Royal Navy.

He used the date rape drug gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) on his victims, disguising it in drinks he gave them before raping and murdering them in his flat in Barking.

The prosecution said ‘post-mortem examinations on the four young men who died revealed that each had died from a drug overdose featuring high levels of GHB’.

Port’s first victim was Anthony Walgate, a 23-year-old fashion student from Hull. In the early morning of 19 June 2014, Port dragged Anthony’s to the pavement outside his flat and used his own mobile phone to call an ambulance.

Port was convicted of perverting the course of justice in March 2015 because his account of the death to the police varied.

Stephen Merchant portrays the Grinder Killer in Four Lives (Picture: BBC)

He was imprisoned for eight months but released the following June and electronically tagged.

Port went on to murder three more men between August 2014 and September 2015.

His second victim was Gabriel Kovari, 22, who moved to London from Slovakia and had briefly lived with Port.

Daniel Whitworth, 21, from Gravesend in Kent, and Jack Taylor, 25, from Dagenham, were also killed by Port.

More: BBC

The bodies of the last three victims were found in the graveyard of the church of St Margaret of Antioch in Barking, two of which were found by the dogwalker on separate occasions.

At the Old Bailey on 25 November 2016, Port was sentenced to life imprisonment with a whole life order.

Four Lives airs tonight at 9pm on BBC One.

MORE : Four Lives: Plot, cast, trailer, and when does it air?

MORE : Peaky Blinders season 6 release date: When is the BBC series back on?

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.