Stephen Port: Police investigating death knew he had been accused of rape

Stephen Port presented a very different version of himself online (left)

Serial killer Stephen Port was identified by police as a "significant witness" with a rape allegation against him hours after his first victim was found dead, an inquest has heard.

Anthony Walgate was discovered slumped outside Port's flat in Barking, east London, following an anonymous early-hours 999 call in June 2014.

Port was identified as the caller that morning and Met Police officers then spoke to him as a witness.

He later killed three more young men.

Anthony Walgate, pictured with his friend China Dunning

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The first senior officer to attend the scene said he was unaware of a serious sexual offence allegation against Port dating back to 2012, which had been noted by the borough commander that day.

The jury heard that it would have been usual for the senior officer to be told about the allegation that Port had raped a male on New Year's Eve in 2012 at his flat.

A crime report also shown to the court revealed that the complainant had gone further and described several different occasions of non-consensual sex after he had been plied with drugs and alcohol.

Mr Walgate was found dead by medics outside Stephen Port's flat in Cooke Street

The men Port killed died after he administered fatal doses of the drug GHB.

Port was later convicted of lying to police about the circumstances of Mr Walgate's death. He was jailed, but before he went to prison he managed to kill Gabriel Kovari and Daniel Whitworth, and once released he killed Jack Taylor.

Following a trial at the Old Bailey in 2016, Port was found guilty of all four murders and sentenced to a whole-life term.

The inquest at Barking Town Hall is examining whether police mistakes cost the lives of some of the victims by failing to stop Port sooner.