Serial sex attacker jailed for life in the UK for double murder, rape

LONDON — Simon Levy, a serial sex offender whose escalating attacks exposed serious failures in the British criminal justice system, has been sentenced to a whole-life order after being convicted of murdering two women and violently attacking another.

The 40-year-old was found guilty at the Old Bailey of murdering Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo, 53, in March 2025 and Sheryl Wilkins, 39, five months later. He was also convicted of raping and seriously assaulting a third woman in January 2025.

The sentence means Levy will spend the rest of his life in prison, with no prospect of release.

Judge Mark Lucraft KC described him as a man who “ruthlessly exploits others for your own personal, sexual satisfaction”, before imposing the whole-life order for the two murders.

Levy was additionally sentenced for two counts of rape, causing grievous bodily harm with intent and intentional strangulation relating to the surviving victim.

A trail of warnings that failed to stop him

The case has triggered intense scrutiny of how Levy was handled by police, prosecutors and the courts.

His sexual offending dated back to at least 2018, and he had accumulated convictions for sexual offences before the 2025 killings. He was repeatedly arrested over attacks on women on London's trains and was already under scrutiny when his offending escalated.

In April 2025, Levy was arrested in connection with the death of Valencia-Trujillo. Yet he was released while the investigation continued.

He subsequently attacked more women before killing Wilkins in August.

The failures have prompted an investigation into the handling of the case, with police and prosecutors acknowledging serious shortcomings. Two Metropolitan Police officers are also being investigated over their conduct in managing Levy.

The Metropolitan Police has said it believes Wilkins' death could have been prevented had the earlier failures not occurred.

Victims left behind

Valencia-Trujillo and Wilkins were among vulnerable women targeted by Levy during a period in which his offending became increasingly violent.

Court proceedings revealed that Levy had carried out numerous sexual assaults, including attacks on women travelling on London's public transport. He was also convicted earlier this year of further sexual assaults committed between 2022 and 2025.

The surviving victim told the court how she feared she was going to die during the January 2025 attack.

Her testimony became a crucial part of a case that prosecutors described as a pattern of predatory violence against vulnerable women.

The families of the two murdered women have also spoken about the devastating impact of their deaths.

A system under scrutiny

The sentence closes the criminal case against Levy, but it does not end the questions surrounding how he was allowed to remain at liberty.

Authorities had multiple opportunities to intervene as his offending escalated. The failures reportedly included problems with risk assessments, communication between agencies, bail decisions and the monitoring of Levy as a registered sex offender.

The case has consequently become more than the story of a convicted double murderer.

It is also an examination of what happens when warnings accumulate around a known sexual predator but the institutions responsible for acting on those warnings fail to connect them quickly enough.

For the families of Valencia-Trujillo and Wilkins, the whole-life order ensures Levy will never walk free again.

But the more difficult question remains for the authorities whose decisions preceded the killings:

How many opportunities were there to stop him — and why were they missed?