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Stephen Port who tried to frame one of his alleged victims Daniel Whitworth for the murder of another, has been branded a liar for second time

A ‘serial killer’ who tried to frame one of his alleged victims for the murder of another has been branded a liar for the second time.

Stephen Port, 41, is accused of drugging a string of young gay men to satisfy a fetish for raping their unconscious bodies, and killing four of them.

One of those who was found dead just yards from Port’s home was Daniel Whitworth, from Gravesend.

Daniel Whitworth
Daniel Whitworth

Between 2012 and 2015, Port is said to have carried out a string of sexual offences against 12 young men.

Four of them - Anthony Walgate, 23, Gabriel Kovari, 22, Mr Whitworth, 21, and 25-year-old Jack Taylor - died from drug overdoses, the Old Bailey heard.

The prosecution claims Port tried to pin the blame for Mr Kovari’s death on former Dartford Grammar pupil Mr Whitworth, by planting a sham suicide note on him, confessing to the killing.

Yesterday Mr Whitworth’s boyfriend Ricky Waumsley gave evidence to say that the evening Mr Whitworth is said to have been with Mr Kovari and carried out the killing, he was actually in The Woodlands pub in Wrotham Road, Gravesend.

Port said earlier this week that the pair met at a sex party on Bank Holiday Monday, August 25, 2014, at about 6pm. He then changed this account and said it was the following night, Tuesday, August 26.

Stephen Port was found guilty of murder
Stephen Port was found guilty of murder

But Mr Waumsley and Mr Whitworth’s uncle say Mr Whitworth was with them that night.

During questioning Mr Waumsley said an arrangement had been made between the three men to meet that night to discuss Mr Whitworth’s inheritance.

He said: “The pub is a five minute walk from where we live. I went with Daniel and we arrived at roughly 6pm.

“We had a couple of drinks and that was it. We were there about an hour and a half.”

The men left at the same time, and the couple walked home.

Mr Waumsley added: “I’m 100% sure we went home together that night and he stayed home with me that evening. I can’t remember exactly what we did but we would usually watch TV and go to bed about 10pm to get up for bout 5am.”

Mr Whitworth worked as a chef in Canary Wharf and would have been going to work the following day.

A statement from Mr Whitworth’s uncle, and a exchange of text messages between him and Mr Whitworth – which were both read out in court – support this alibi.

The body of Daniel Whitworth, 21, from Gravesend, was found near a churchyard in Barking, on September 20 2014
The body of Daniel Whitworth, 21, from Gravesend, was found near a churchyard in Barking, on September 20 2014

Mr Whitworth’s body was found by dog walker Barbara Denham dumped in a churchyard near Port’s flat in Barking, east London on September 20, 2014, just three weeks after she found Mr Kovari’s body in the same spot.

Police found a bottle of GBL, the liquid form of GHB, and Mr Whitworth was clutching an apparent suicide note in his left hand with a confession to the killing.

Jonathan Rees QC, prosecuting, said police initially accepted the apparent suicide note at face value, and did not investigate further.

He added: “But the note turned out to be a sham.

“An expert in handwriting evidence had examined the note and compared it with samples of handwriting from others.

“He had concluded that the note was not written by Mr Whitworth, but by the defendant.

“The prosecution say that the suicide note was a clear attempt on the part of the defendant to conceal his part in the deaths of the two men.”

The defence closed its case on Thursday and closing speeches are now being prepared.

Port denies four counts of murder, four alternative counts of manslaughter, 10 counts of administering a substance with intent, seven counts of rape and four counts of assault by penetration.

The trial continues.

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