Stephen Port was jailed in November 2016 after luring four young, gay men through dating apps so he could drug them to death and rape them. 

Easy Kills tracks Port’s life and crimes and questions the role of Barking and Dagenham Police, who were investigated by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) as a result. 

Officers neglected to check Port’s electronic devices when the first overdosed body turned up outside his flat in June 2014. They found Port had called 999 trying to pose as a bystander after hiring the young man as an escort. He was not charged with murder, but perverting the course of justice.

In August 2014, a second body turned up 400 yards from Port’s front door. The young immigrant’s corpse showed signs of being dragged. No investigation was opened. Less than one month later, another body turned up in the same churchyard.

Port was jailed in March 2015 after being given eight months for perverting the course of justice. He served just under three. Had he served the full sentence, he wouldn’t have been free to murder his fourth victim, Jack Taylor.

The case has garnered massive national media attention,  resulting in a TV drama released January 2022.

I love true crime, I spend a unhealthy amount of time binge watching true crime documentaries and like many others I have a morbid fascination with serial killers. If, like me you are fascinated by true crime then you will enjoy this book. Bates puts the victims at the heart if the story rather than focusing on the killer. At times this book can be downright frustrating due to the many opportunities the police had to catch the killer but for one reason or another the leads were not pursued. I highly recommend this book for my fellow true crime buffs.

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