Following an Old Bailey jury verdict convicting Simon Levy of two murders, police and prosecution errors have been revealed that left the proven sex offender free on bail to kill Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo in March 2025 and Sheryl Wilkins in August 2025 across London.
An Old Bailey jury found 40-year-old Simon Levy guilty of murder on Friday, concluding a trial that laid bare a litany of systemic failures by British police and prosecutors. Levy was convicted by an 11-1 majority of murdering Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo, 53, in a partly disused tower block on 17 March 2025. The jury was unanimous in convicting him of murdering 39-year-old Sheryl Wilkins in a Tottenham car park on 24 August 2025. Levy, from Tottenham in north London, remained impassive behind dark glasses as the verdicts were delivered.
Escalating Offenses and Missed Investigations on London Transit
Long before the killings, Levy had established a pattern of sexual violence against women. He was first jailed for a sexual offense in 2021, and while imprisoned, he assaulted a female prison officer. Following his release, he carried out a series of sexual assaults on trains and the London Underground between 2023 and 2025, alongside being the prime suspect in a rape investigation. His offending on public transit began with an assault captured on a busy Tube train in central London, where he targeted a woman before protesting his innocence to other passengers by stating that he did not know what they were talking about and pointing out that his hand was covered while indicating a jumper draped over his arm.
Although the initial victim reported the assault to the British Transport Police with available CCTV footage, officers failed to identify Levy at the time, connecting him to the case two years later only after additional women came forward. A year after his first Tube assault, Levy attacked three more women in quick succession. Following his arrest for those offenses, during which one victim filmed him assaulting another passenger, British Transport Police officers determined they lacked sufficient evidence to charge him and released him on bail.
Bail Failures and Admissions from Police and Prosecutors
The subsequent investigation was plagued by severe delays. British Transport Police took weeks to arrange identity parades and waited six months before approaching the Crown Prosecution Service. When the case finally reached prosecutors in May 2025, a CPS team had to scramble for an emergency charging decision overnight because police wanted Levy in court the next day. By May 2025, police sought to have Levy remanded, warning that he posed a high risk of reoffending with escalating crimes. Despite these warnings, Levy remained free while on bail as a suspect for the first murder when he committed the second.
The Crown Prosecution Service admitted to making errors at three separate court hearings in May, June, and August 2025 that resulted in Levy remaining free. While prosecutors declined to specify the exact nature of those errors publicly, an authorized source disclosed that the omissions included failing to inform the court that Levy had been arrested for Valencia-Trujillo’s murder, failing to mention his past sexual assault convictions, and omitting that he was a suspect in a 2024 rape. Furthermore, Levy failed to attend three Crown Court hearings for the train attacks without authorities seeking a detention warrant, with his final non-appearance occurring on 11 August 2025—just two weeks before he murdered Wilkins.
The Crown Prosecution Service acknowledged via The Guardian that it accepted that relevant information regarding bail was not provided to the court when bail applications were being considered, adding that its actions fell short of the standards that victims, families, and the public were entitled to expect and stating that it could and should have taken a more robust approach to representations about bail.
Institutional Fallout and Accountability Measures
The Metropolitan Police, the Crown Prosecution Service, and the British Transport Police all acknowledged systemic failures in handling Levy’s case. Kevin Southworth, a deputy assistant commissioner at the Metropolitan Police, labeled Levy a predatory monster
and stated that Sheryl Wilkins would probably still be alive if not for collective system failures across law enforcement agencies.
British Transport Police Assistant Chief Constable Charlie Doyle admitted that investigative opportunities were missed. In an official statement, Doyle noted that procedures have been amended to ensure repeat offenders are dealt with expeditiously and linked offenses are prioritized more effectively. Additionally, a Crown Prosecution Service source confirmed that individuals involved in handling the Levy case have faced internal disciplinary action.
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