Met officers investigated over murders by Stephen Port | UK News

The officers are being investigated for possible breaches of police professional standards relating variously to equality and diversity, duties and responsibilities, authority respect and courtesy and honesty and integrity.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) opened a re-investigation into the way the Met initially handled its investigations into the murders of Anthony Walgate, Gabriel Kovari, Daniel Whitworth and Jack Taylor in London.

In the original investigation the actions of multiple officers were examined and 17 of those were subjects in the investigation in August 2018.

Five of the officers under investigation for gross misconduct were subjects in the initial IPCC probe.

IOPC regional director Steve Noonan said: ‘Our thoughts remain with the families and friends of Anthony, Gabriel, Daniel and Jack who were tragically murdered by Stephen Port in Barking.

‘I want to pay tribute to the families of these young men who have shown considerable patience as we got to the position we are in now.

‘Our re-investigation has been, and continues to be, thorough and detailed. We recognise it has taken some time to reach this stage, but these are complex matters, involving multiple officers and four investigations into unexplained deaths and then the subsequent murder investigation into Port.

‘Though we have found an indication that the behaviour of these eight individuals may have amounted to gross misconduct, this does not necessarily mean disciplinary proceedings will automatically follow. Based on the evidence, at the conclusion of our investigation we will decide whether any officers should face disciplinary proceedings.’

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