Serial killer Stephen Port will spend the rest of his life in prison for the murders of four young gay men.

Relatives of the victims cheered and clapped as Mr Justice Openshaw told Port he would never be released.

One woman in the public gallery of the Old Bailey courtroom called the impassive Port a "scumbag".

The 41-year-old chef stalked his victims on dating websites and plied them with drinks spiked with fatal amounts of the drug GHB to rape them while they were unconscious.

He dumped their bodies in or near a graveyard within 500 metres of his flat in Barking, east London, and embarked on an elaborate cover-up.

He disposed of their mobile phones, repeatedly lied to police and planted a fake suicide note in the hand of one of his victims, taking the blame for the death of another.

The deaths of Jack Taylor, Anthony Walgate, Gabriel Kovari,  and Daniel Whitworth over 15 months bore striking similarities but police failed to make the link until relatives of his final victim demanded answers.

Following a trial, Port was found guilty of the murders after a jury deliberated for 28 hours and 27 minutes.

He was also convicted of a string of sex offences against seven other men who came forward following his arrest.