Serial UK sex attacker jailed for life for double murder, rape after police failings

Simon Levy, a 40-year-old serial sex attacker in the UK, has been sentenced to a whole-life jail term for the murders of Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo and Sheryl Wilkins in 2025, along with the rape and serious assault of a third woman. This severe sentence is rare in the UK. Levy had been arrested multiple times for sexual assaults on trains between 2023 and 2025 but was repeatedly released, even after being a suspect in Valencia-Trujillo's murder, leading to further attacks. London's Metropolitan Police Chief Mark Rowley acknowledged the force "could have done better, definitely," while Harriet Wistrich, CEO of the Centre for Women's Justice, stated, "The catalog of combined failures in this case provides terrifying evidence ... that our criminal justice system is in a state of collapse." The Metropolitan Police, British Transport Police, and the Crown Prosecution Service have admitted to failings, prompting London Mayor Sadiq Khan to call for a multi-agency review.