Alleged serial killer Stephen Port, accused of murdering four men including victims from Lewisham and Gravesend, claimed in a 999 call to have found his first alleged victim collapsed from a seizure "or just drunk", a court heard.

Port, 41, is accused of murdering four men over 15 months by spiking their drinks with date rape drug GHB in order to have sex with them at his flat while they were unconscious.

The chef went on to dump his victims' bodies metres from his home in Barking, east London, jurors have been told.

He was jailed for eight months for perverting the course of justice by lying to police about the circumstances of the death of his first alleged victim, Anthony Walgate.

The 23-year-old fashion student had met Port through website Sleepboys and agreed to go to his home for a sleepover, the court heard.

He was found dead by a paramedic in a communal area of the block of flats where Port lived in Cooke Street, Barking in the early hours of June 19 2014.

In the 999 call played to jurors, Port told the operator: "Cooke Street, appears a young boy looks like he's collapsed outside, I don't know.

"Looks like he has collapsed or had a seizure or something - or just drunk."

He went on: "I'm just going to get my car. I have got to get my car, the parking."

The operator told him not to worry about that and asked what number he was calling from, but Port was gone.

The operator rang back to ask if the man was awake and breathing and the defendant said he did not know, the court heard.

Paramedic Anthony Neil arrived at the scene to find Mr Walgate was already dead and cold to the touch.

He said in a statement: "On the pedestrian walkway, I saw the outline of a figure in a sitting position against something.

"He appeared deceased. He was not breathing and was extremely cold to the touch and he did not have a pulse."

He covered him in a red blanket and alerted police to a suspicious death, jurors were told.

After police arrived, officers tracked down Port through his phone number as a "significant witness".

Det Con Malcolm Young took a statement from Port later that day.

In it, Port said he had left for work at Stagecoach bus company at about 8.30pm on June 18.

On finding a young man lying on the floor, he told the officer he had "tried to raise him by slapping his face" and he "made a gurgling noise".

The defendant said he lifted him up and put him against a wall next to a post box but he "still did not wake up".

Port said after dialling 999, he went into his flat and fell asleep, rather than waiting for a paramedic to arrive.

Giving evidence, pathologist Olaf Biedrzycki confirmed the cause of death was GHB intoxication.

He told the court he had been informed that Mr Walgate's jeans zip was undone and he noticed that his underwear was "inside out and back to front".

He also identified 14 separate injuries on the body including grazes and bruising to the inside upper left arm.

Port denies 29 offences against a total of 12 men - including four murders, seven rapes, four sex assaults and administering a substance with intent.