Simon Levy, 40, was found guilty on Friday at the Old Bailey of murdering grandmother Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo, 53, in March 2025, and mother-of-four Sheryl Wilkins, 39, in August 2025. The jury also convicted him of two counts of rape, grievous bodily harm with intent, and the non-fatal smothering of a third woman, whose collarbone was broken. The verdict came after 13 hours of deliberation, with members of the victims' families bursting into tears as the foreman read out the guilty verdicts.
Systemic failures allowed Levy to kill while on bail
The Metropolitan Police, British Transport Police (BTP), and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have all admitted failings in their handling of Levy. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Kevin Southworth, from the Met, said failures to remand Levy in custody at hearings at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court in May and June 2025 had left him free to kill a second time. He described it as 'a collective system failure' that left Levy free to offend and put victims at risk.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has served a gross misconduct notice on a Met police constable and a misconduct notice on a detective sergeant. Officers now believe Levy may have claimed more victims during his multiple releases on bail, potentially carrying out daily attacks.
Levy's history of sexual violence
Levy was previously jailed in 2021 for groping two women in 2018, one at Notting Hill Carnival and the other at a party in Camden. While in prison in 2022, he sexually assaulted a prison guard but was released in February 2023. He went on to sexually assault a woman on the Tube in October 2023 and allegedly rape another in May 2024, for which he was recalled to prison and released again in August 2024.
In November 2024, BTP arrested Levy for four sexual assaults on the Tube, but delays in organising an identification parade until April 2025 left him free to carry out the rape and first murder. BTP officers also failed to realise that his Oyster card had been stolen from a bus driver, giving him free travel that he used on the day of the murder.
Missed opportunities after first murder
Following the murder of Ms Valencia-Trujillo in March 2025, Levy was released on bail at two magistrates’ court hearings in May and June 2025. The CPS admitted it had not opposed bail at the first hearing, and the prosecutor had not given the court all relevant information at the second. There were three crown court hearings he failed to attend, yet no arrest warrant was requested. Less than two weeks after an August 11 hearing, he murdered Ms Wilkins.
Levy was being monitored by the probation service and police as a convicted sex offender, but he repeatedly lied to officers who visited him at his mother's home in March and July 2025, claiming he did not go out and watched YouTube and films instead. He also played on his partial sight, after losing sight in one eye in an attack in May 2024, claiming it made him unsteady on his feet.
Victims' voices and calls for accountability
One victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court: 'After reporting the sexual assaults, it wasn’t long before I learned that my attacker was already known to the police for sexual violence and is a convicted sex offender. You could not begin to understand the horror I felt at hearing this.'
London’s Victims’ Commissioner Andrea Simon said she was 'appalled by the litany of failures to manage a prolific offender like Levy'. She told BBC News: 'I’m keen now to see how we can uncover every single key moment that there was to assess the harm that Levy posed to women by every justice agency involved, not just the police, but every critical opportunity there was to intervene.' She suggested there should have been 'a far more robust assessment of risk' at key moments, such as when he was reported to prison and released on licence.
Levy's crimes and sentencing
Levy suffocated both women in sexually motivated attacks. Ms Valencia-Trujillo was found in a largely abandoned block of flats on the Aylesbury estate in south-east London, and Ms Wilkins was found behind a car park wall near Tottenham High Road, north London. Between the two murders, Levy sexually assaulted six women on the Tube and Overground.
Detective Chief Inspector Neil John, from Scotland Yard, said outside the Old Bailey: 'Simon Levy is a dangerous and predatory offender. His crimes were calculated, cruel and deeply disturbing. Throughout the trial, he has shown complete disregard for the victims and victim-survivor, despite being fully aware of the lasting and devastating impact of his actions.' He appealed for any more victims to come forward, standing next to Ms Wilkins’s two sisters and the daughter of Ms Valencia-Trujillo.
Judge Mark Lucraft KC adjourned sentencing until Wednesday, August 12, and remanded Levy into custody. Levy, who is blind in one eye and wore sunglasses in court, gave no reaction as the verdicts were read.
Timeline of Levy's escalating attacks
- July 2018: A woman reports being sexually assaulted by Levy at a party at Camden Market.
- August 2018: A second woman reports being sexually assaulted by Levy after meeting him on the way to Notting Hill Carnival.
- September 30, 2021: Levy is convicted at Southwark Crown Court and jailed for two years.
- April 14, 2022: He sexually assaults a prison guard at HMP Brixton.
- February 17, 2023: He is released from prison.
- October 24, 2023: Levy gropes a woman on the Jubilee Line.
- May 2024: Levy is accused of rape in north London and recalled to prison; released in August 2024.
- October 21, 2024: He grips a woman's bottom on the Central Line.
- October 28, 2024: He touches another woman's thigh and grabs her vagina on the Central Line.
- November 4, 2024: Recognised by BTP, arrested, but released on bail due to lack of evidence.
- January 21, 2025: Levy commits GBH, non-fatal suffocation, and two rapes against a woman in Haringey.
- March 17, 2025: Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo found dead at Aylesbury Estate.
- April 1, 2025: Levy arrested for murder but released on bail.
- April 7, 2025: Levy assaults a woman on the Tube at Finsbury Park.
- April 8, 2025: Another woman assaulted on the Tube.
- April 26, 2025: Assault at Stoke Newington Overground.
- May 1, 2025: Assault on a student on the train from White Hart Lane.
- May 2, 2025: Charged with five counts of sexual assault and released on bail.
- May 3, 2025: Appears at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court, granted bail with conditions.
- May 29, 2025: Assaults a woman on the Jubilee Line.
- June 3, 2025: Fails to attend plea hearing.
- June 20, 2025: Arrested for more assaults and breach of bail.
- June 21, 2025: Given bail again by magistrates.
- July 10, 2025: Lies to probation officer during home visit.
- July 18, 2025: Fails to attend plea hearing at Inner London Crown Court.
- August 11, 2025: Fails to attend rescheduled hearing; no warrant issued.
- August 24, 2025: Sheryl Wilkins found unresponsive in High Road, Tottenham.
- September 2025: Levy re-arrested for both murders and the January rape.
- February 4, 2026: Convicted of 11 counts of sexual assault.
- June 22, 2026: Trial for murders and rape starts at the Old Bailey.
- August 7, 2026: Found guilty of two murders and one rape.
