Two police officers are under investigation by the policing watchdog for misconduct after serial sex offender Simon Levy was left free to murder two women and rape a third.
Levy’s crime spree spanned from 2018 to 2025, and included a myriad of sex attacks on women in public spaces and two killings, as the Metropolitan Police, the British Transport Police (BTP) and the courts failed to stop him.
On Friday, he was found guilty of murdering Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo, 53, in March last year, and Sheryl Wilkins, 39, in August last year, and carrying out a violent sex attack against a third woman in January 2025.
The Met, BTP and Crown Prosecution Service have all admitted failings in how they dealt with Levy, who was on bail as his attacks on women escalated to murder.
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.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said on Friday that an investigation into alleged failures of Met Police officers in their management of Levy was “ongoing”.
The watchdog added that its investigation began in January following a voluntary conduct referral from the force, relating to alleged failures by two officers following Levy’s prison release on licence in February 2023.
The IOPC said it was “investigating the management of Simon Levy from his first conviction in September 2021 up to his arrest in September 2025”.
An IOPC spokesperson said: “We are examining whether action could or should have been taken to prevent his reoffending, and if all officers involved in his management followed policies, procedures and training.
“We are also assessing whether any learning, whether individual, force-wide, or nationally, or other changes should be implemented in light of the events under investigation.
“At this stage, we have served a gross misconduct notice on a police constable and a misconduct notice on a detective sergeant, which means that the actions of those officers are under investigation.
“The serving of conduct notices does not necessarily mean disciplinary proceedings will follow.”
Levy’s crime spree began when he sexually assaulted two women in 2018, and a prison guard while he was behind bars in 2022.
After his release, he groped a woman on the Tube in October 2023, and allegedly raped another in May 2024, for which he was recalled to prison and released again in August that year.
In November 2024 he was arrested for four sexual assaults on the Tube, for which he has since been separately convicted, but delays in organising an identification parade left him a free man.
He then sexually assaulted six more women on the Tube – one in March, three in April and two in May 2025.
The woman who survived the rape for which Levy was convicted on Friday, was attacked in January 2025, but police were unable to follow up on her allegations until after he had killed Ms Valencia-Trujillo in March, and Ms Wilkins in August.
When the woman reported attack, she was instead taken into custody for breaching a community order.
Police said they had struggled to speak to the victim because she gave the wrong date at one point, there was a lack of CCTV at the site, and she was not easily contactable because she was homeless.
Levy’s victims’ families joined a senior officer outside of the Old Bailey after the trial, as he urged any more survivors of the “dangerous” serial sex offender to come forward.
Detective Chief Inspector Neil John, who led the Metropolitan Police investigation into Levy, said the victims’ families had demonstrated “incredible dignity and remarkable resolve” throughout the trial.
Flanked by Ms Wilkins’ two sisters and Ms Valencia-Trujillo’s daughter, he said: “Both Carmenza Trujillo and Sheryl Wilkins were much-loved women. They were daughters, sisters, friends and their loss is felt by all those who knew them.”
He also said the surviving victim, who cannot be identified, had shown “commendable bravery” as she presented “vital evidence” in court.
DCI John said: “Her testimony was crucial in ensuring that Levy will now spend most, if not all, of his life in prison.
“While we cannot undo the actions of Simon Levy, I hope today’s conviction provides a sense of justice and closure for those affected.”
DCI John said the investigation had been “complex and challenging”, and the evidence uncovered “proved a pattern of behaviour which was sexually motivated and exhibited willingness to escalate violence for (Levy’s) own gratification”.
“Although we are proud of the work that has gone into securing this verdict, we remain relentless in pursuing offenders who perpetrate violence against women and girls and are appealing to anyone who is yet to report offences relating to Levy to come forward,” he said.
“Reporting rape or sexual assault is daunting – many victim-survivors will have concerns about speaking to the police – but we want to be clear that our priority is their safety and we continue to work with partners across London to raise awareness of the support we can provide.”
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