LONDON — A British serial sex attacker will spend the rest of his life in jail, a judge said on Wednesday, after he was convicted of two murders and rape following an escalating spree of sexual offenses that police and prosecutors failed to stop.
Simon Levy, 40, was found guilty last week of the murder of Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo in March 2025 and of Sheryl Wilkins in August 2025, and of the rape and serious assault of a third woman in January that year.
Police had arrested Levy several times for sexual assaults against women on rush-hour trains before he was arrested on suspicion of murdering Valencia-Trujillo, 53, in April 2025.
But Levy was released and sexually assaulted five women before he killed Wilkins, 39, in a brutal attack.
London’s Metropolitan Police said Levy was released because they were then unable to confirm any third-party involvement in Valencia-Trujillo’s death.
Its chief, Mark Rowley, told reporters the force “could have done better, definitely,” but added that “the justice system needs to do its job better.”
Levy’s crimes and the failures by police and prosecutors that allowed him to continue offending have prompted criticism, coming after a report in December said British police must ensure early intervention in cases of predatory behavior.
Harriet Wistrich, CEO of the Centre for Women’s Justice, said: “The catalogue of combined failures in this case provides terrifying evidence … that our criminal justice system is in a state of collapse.”
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Judge Mark Lucraft said Levy was “clearly someone who ruthlessly exploits others for your own personal, sexual satisfaction” as he sentenced him to a whole-life order for the murders of Valencia-Trujillo and Wilkins.
He was also sentenced for two counts of rape, causing grievous bodily harm with intent and intentional strangulation in relation to a third woman.
Levy was separately convicted in February of sexually assaulting 10 women on London trains between October 2023 and May 2025, with six of the attacks in early 2025, and an 11th charge of sexually assaulting a prison officer in April 2022.
He was arrested in 2024 and early 2025 by British Transport Police, including after he was a suspect for rape and Valencia-Trujillo’s murder, but was granted bail.
The Met has referred itself to the police watchdog for downgrading him to a medium-risk offender in 2024, while BTP and the Crown Prosecution Service have also admitted some failures.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said in a statement that he was “appalled by his crimes and the failures across multiple agencies,” calling for a multi-agency review to try and stop it from happening again.
