A Life Stolen: The tragic true story of my son’s murder

by Sarah Sak

Sarah Sak's son, Anthony Walgate, was murdered by gay serial killer Stephen Port after they met on dating app Grindr. Stephen Port was sentenced to life imprisonment at the Old Bailey in November 2016. The case received extensive press coverage not only because of the horrific nature of the crimes but also because the police refused to investigate Anthony's death despite three more bodies being found in near identical circumstances. It was not until Scotland Yard's crime squad took over that Stephen Port was arrested, charged, convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

Sarah Sak's courage and perseverance helped to achieve justice for her much-loved son and now she campaigns for better policing, to recognise and link crimes, support families, counter homophobia and raise greater public awareness of the dangers of dating sites/apps, to prevent further deaths. She wants to tell the story of the murder of son and the other men who died in an attempt to understand how this could have happened and the role that social media played in their death.

320 pages, Paperback

Published June 27, 2023

Reviews

[Alicia]

I would likely appreciate the documentary rather than this book because it was hard to read- like the cowriter needed to step in more than Sak thought to shape the book. The topic is difficult enough, a mother writing about the death of her twenty three year old son and the indifferent treatment by the police department about it, so to layer it with spartan, choppy sentences, I just couldn't get through it.

Sak tells every painstaking thought and detail and frustration and movement that I was annoyed from the start. I know what she was trying to do- to understand how a life can be changed in an instant- but it didn't work. Then she seethes with pain and disappointment that it was difficult to know the story itself. She already had a strong bias and it shows with every sentence written. I think if it was written from the mysterious angle of the murder of her son Anthony first and her pain as a mother second, it could have shifted enough to engage the empathy of losing a child who had a lot going for him.

[Eileen Dunne]

My book club is reading this as one of our members is from Hull, UK and knew the young man who was murdered. It's the true story written by his mother about her quest for justice. She's an engaging narrator and the story is sad but worth telling. If the police had properly investigated his death they might have prevented three more murders.

[Paw]

A true story of a mother's grief and struggle to local police to get them to believe that her son was murdered.
I was shocked by how rude and un professional the police were to this lady.
I'm glad at least she stayed fighting to prove that her son was murdered and that local policing into the death of her son was brought to some justice.

[Becki]

Heartbreaking but beautiful true story.
Such Heartbreaking break and loss. To fight so hard as you know deep down your son was murdered is truly impeccable. Anthony would be so proud of his mum for putting up the fight no matter what

[Rebecca Fowkes]

I enjoyed this book.

[Janette McQueen]

Great read

Fantastic read so sad by the way the police handled it totally shocking. But good on Anthony's mum for fighting that took real strength and courage.

[Gina Walker]

Read this book a harrowing account from a mother I wept. I watched the TV drama which was a good watch also