A British serial sex attacker will spend the rest of his life behind bars after being convicted of two murders, rape and a series of serious sexual offences, bringing an end to an escalating crime spree that exposed major failings within the criminal justice system.

Simon Levy, 40, was convicted last week at London’s Old Bailey of murdering Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo in March 2025 and Sheryl Wilkins in August 2025. He was also found guilty of rape and serious assaults against another woman earlier that year.

On Wednesday, Judge Mark Lucraft imposed a whole-life order on Levy, meaning he will never be released from prison.

The judge described Levy as someone who “ruthlessly exploits others for your own personal, sexual satisfaction” as he sentenced him for the murders.

Levy’s convictions bring together a disturbing series of offences that stretched over several years and included attacks on women travelling on London’s rush-hour trains.

He had already been arrested multiple times by police over sexual assaults before he was suspected of killing Valencia-Trujillo.

However, despite those arrests and investigations, Levy was released and went on to sexually assault five more women before Wilkins was killed.

The circumstances have prompted intense criticism of the police, prosecutors and wider justice system, with campaigners arguing that opportunities to intervene were repeatedly missed.

The Metropolitan Police has acknowledged failings in its handling of Levy.

The force’s chief, Mark Rowley, said the police “could have done better, definitely,” although he also argued that other parts of the justice system needed to improve.

The case has raised difficult questions about how a person repeatedly suspected of sexual violence was able to remain at liberty and continue offending.

Police had arrested Levy several times, including in connection with allegations involving women on trains.

He was also arrested after becoming a suspect in relation to rape and the death of Valencia-Trujillo.

Yet he was granted bail.

Levy was ultimately arrested on suspicion of murdering Valencia-Trujillo in April 2025, but police later released him because they said they were unable at that stage to confirm any third-party involvement in her death.

That decision would become particularly significant because Levy subsequently committed further sexual offences before killing Wilkins.

The sequence of events has left campaigners questioning whether the warning signs surrounding him were properly understood and acted upon.

Valencia-Trujillo, 53, was killed in March 2025, while Wilkins, 39, was murdered several months later in August.

Levy’s conviction for Wilkins’ murder followed evidence surrounding a brutal attack, while the prosecution also secured convictions relating to another woman who was raped and seriously assaulted.

He was sentenced for two counts of rape, causing grievous bodily harm with intent and intentional strangulation in relation to the third victim.

The scale of Levy’s offending was even wider than the offences considered during his latest trial.

In February, he was separately convicted of sexually assaulting 10 women on London trains between October 2023 and May 2025.

Six of those attacks took place during the early months of 2025, the same period in which police were dealing with other allegations involving him.

He also faced a separate conviction for sexually assaulting a prison officer in April 2022.

Taken together, the convictions reveal a pattern of predatory behaviour that continued despite repeated contact with law enforcement.

British Transport Police had arrested Levy in both 2024 and early 2025.

Those arrests included incidents connected to allegations of rape and the murder investigation involving Valencia-Trujillo.

Despite this history, Levy remained outside prison for periods of time, allowing him to continue offending.

The Metropolitan Police has now referred itself to the police watchdog over its decision to downgrade Levy to a medium-risk offender in 2024.

British Transport Police and the Crown Prosecution Service have also acknowledged failures in their handling of aspects of the case.

The involvement of multiple agencies has intensified calls for a broader investigation rather than an examination of one individual decision.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he was “appalled by his crimes and the failures across multiple agencies” and called for a multi-agency review.

The review is intended to examine how Levy was able to continue offending despite his repeated contact with authorities and whether changes are needed to prevent similar cases from happening again.

The case has also reignited concerns about how authorities identify and respond to patterns of predatory behaviour.

A report published in December had already warned that British police needed to intervene earlier in cases involving predatory behaviour towards women.

Levy’s case has now become another example being cited by campaigners who argue that warning signs cannot be considered in isolation.

Harriet Wistrich, chief executive of the Centre for Women’s Justice, described the failures surrounding the case as a “terrifying” indication of the condition of the criminal justice system.

She argued that the combined failures demonstrated what she described as a system in a state of collapse.

Her comments reflect growing concern that repeated allegations of sexual violence should trigger stronger and more coordinated responses before offenders have the opportunity to escalate their behaviour.

For the families of Valencia-Trujillo and Wilkins, however, the whole-life sentence cannot undo what happened.

Both women lost their lives after Levy had already come to the attention of authorities for sexual offences.

That fact is at the heart of the anger surrounding the case.

The question now extends beyond why Levy committed such violent crimes to why the system did not stop him earlier.

The Met has accepted that it could have handled aspects of the case better, while also stressing that responsibility for preventing serious crime does not rest with one organisation alone.

The Crown Prosecution Service and British Transport Police have similarly acknowledged shortcomings.

The combination of these admissions is likely to fuel demands for a detailed examination of how information about Levy was shared between agencies and how decisions about his risk level were reached.

His downgrade to a medium-risk offender is likely to receive particular scrutiny.

That decision is now being examined by the police watchdog because of the potential significance it had for how Levy was subsequently managed.

The case also highlights the difficulty authorities face when dealing with offenders whose crimes appear to increase in seriousness over time.

Levy’s offending began with sexual assaults and continued through increasingly serious allegations before culminating in two murders.

The fact that several attacks occurred on rush-hour trains has also raised questions about the safety of women using public transport and the ability of authorities to identify repeat offenders across different incidents.

For now, Levy’s future is clear.

The whole-life order means he will remain in prison for the rest of his life, regardless of any future developments in his circumstances.

But the conclusion of his criminal case is unlikely to mark the end of scrutiny surrounding the events that allowed his offending to continue.

The Metropolitan Police, British Transport Police and Crown Prosecution Service will face questions over their individual decisions and the way their agencies worked together.

The review called for by the London mayor could therefore become an important next step in understanding where the system failed.

The case has left a troubling legacy: Levy was not an unknown offender who suddenly appeared without warning.

He had been arrested, investigated and repeatedly linked to allegations of sexual violence.

Yet he remained free long enough to attack more women and ultimately kill two.

His whole-life sentence provides punishment for those crimes, but campaigners and officials now face the harder task of determining whether lessons will genuinely be learned.

The central issue is no longer whether Levy deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison. The court has answered that question.

The more difficult question is whether the failures that allowed his offending to escalate can be identified and corrected before another case follows the same devastating pattern.