A serial sex offender who was being monitored by the Metropolitan Police has been found guilty of murdering two women and raping a third in London.

Simon Levy killed Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo, 53, in March 2025 and 39-year-old Sheryl Wilkins five months later.

The 40-year-old man also raped a third woman in January 2025, before the murders, in the same Tottenham car park where Wilkins was later found dead.

During his trial at the Old Bailey, jurors heard Levy had a string of convictions for attacking women dating back to July 2018, including one carried out against a prison officer in 2022.

The court heard how Levy, from Tottenham, targeted the three vulnerable women, all of whom carried out street sex work in order to fund drug addictions.

He declined to give evidence during his trial but pleaded not guilty to the two murders, as well as two counts of rape, grievous bodily harm with intent, and non-fatal suffocation against the surviving woman.

The jury, which was given a majority direction in the trial, found him guilty of all charges after 13 hours of deliberation.

Members of the victims' families wept as the verdicts were returned while the defendant, who had a pointed beard and was wearing sunglasses, gave no reaction.

In court, judge Mark Lucraft KC adjourned sentencing until Wednesday 12 August and remanded Levy into custody.

'Devastating harm'

The Met, British Transport Police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have all admitted failings in how they dealt with Levy, who was on bail as his attacks on women escalated to double murder.

London's Victims' Commissioner, Andrea Simon, said she was "appalled by the litany of failures to manage a prolific offender like Levy".

She told BBC News: "I'm keen now to see how we can uncover every key moment when there was an opportunity to assess the harm Levy posed to women by every justice agency involved, not just the police, and every critical opportunity there was to intervene."

Crime and Policing Minister, Sarah Jones, said: "The fact that Levy was able to inflict such devastating harm after being freed by police and the courts is deeply concerning.

"It raises serious questions that require urgent answers."

She said that failures must be identified so they are not repeated.

Helena Croft, the chief executive officer of StreetlightUK charity, said this case "demonstrated the need to treat women involved in the sex industry as women at risk of serious violence".

She said there were "missed opportunities around listening to frontline services, information sharing, and making full use of specialist organisations that had established relationships with the women most at risk".

The Metropolitan Police confirmed to the BBC that it believed Wilkins' death could have been avoided had there not been multiple points of failure in the handling of Levy.

The Met failed to treat Valencia-Trujillo's death as a murder, despite arresting Levy soon afterwards and finding his DNA on her body, until after Levy killed again.

In February, Levy was convicted of sexually assaulting 10 women on London's Tubes and trains, as well as a female prison officer in HMP Brixton, with details of that trial now reportable for the first time.

'Deeply disturbing'

Speaking after the verdicts were given, Det Ch Insp Neil John from the Met said: "Simon Levy is a dangerous and predatory offender.

"His crimes were calculated, cruel and deeply disturbing. Throughout the trial, he has shown complete disregard for the victims and victim-survivor, despite being fully aware of the lasting and devastating impact of his actions."

He described the investigation as "complex and challenging" but said "my team and I have been steadfast in our professionalism and dedication".

Standing alongside Wilkins' two sisters and Valencia-Trujillo's daughter, he asked for any other victim-survivors of Levy to come forward.

Valencia-Trujillo's children said she was a "big character" who was "full of life" and was said to be a "much-loved" member of the community with a love of salsa dancing.

Wilkins' family said she was a much-loved woman who is missed every day by those who knew her.

The Met said since the launch of the investigation, detectives had exhausted numerous lines of enquiry – including working with coroners – to identify whether Levy was responsible for any similar, unsolved incidents, including deaths.

Police have said while they are yet to find anything new on Levy, they emphasised they had significantly strengthened their training and response to violence against women and girls, along with their specialist victim support services.

Two Met officers are under investigation by the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) for their decision in August 2024 to downgrade Levy from a high-risk sex offender to a medium-risk.

A police constable had been served with a gross misconduct notice and a detective sergeant with a misconduct notice.

The IOPC said it would be investigating how Levy was managed from his first conviction in September 2021 up to his arrest in September 2025.

"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."

The IOPC stressed that the notices indicated the officers' actions were under investigation and did not mean disciplinary proceedings would follow.

The investigation will also consider whether any lessons can be learned or changes introduced at an individual, force-wide or national level.

The British Transport Police (BTP) said that two of its officers have been moved to other roles due to their "incompetence" in handling the case.

BTP Assistant Chief Constable Charlie Doyle said: "It is clear that opportunities to expedite the investigation were missed and we have amended our procedures to address these issues to ensure that repeat offenders are dealt with expeditiously, and that linked offences are prioritised more effectively."

Lisa Ramsarran, chief crown prosecutor for the CPS, said: "Our actions fell short of the standards that victims, families and the public are entitled to expect.

"In particular, there were points where we could and should have taken a more robust approach to representations about bail, based on the information available.

"We cannot know what decisions the courts would have made had different or stronger representations been advanced. But we recognise our responsibility and we are sorry for the shortcomings we have identified."

'Significant pressure'

Ramsarran said the cases had been handled against a backdrop of significant pressure on the criminal justice system, including busy court lists, late or incomplete information, and the need for agencies to make decisions quickly.

While that did not lessen responsibility for the failings, she said it was important to understand the circumstances in which they had occurred.

She said measures were being introduced to strengthen training, improve oversight of cases and enhance the handling of bail and risk assessments in serious sexual offence investigations.

Levy had attacked the three women while on bail for sex assaults on trains in London, and went on to carry out further assaults on public transport.

Ramsarran explained how Levy was convicted in February of sexually assaulting 10 women on London's Tubes and trains.

She added: "Nothing can undo the harm caused, but we hope these convictions provide some measure of justice."

Tube assaults conviction

Earlier this year, Levy, 40, was found guilty by a jury at Inner London Crown Court of groping 10 women on the Tube and an 11th while in prison.

Details of this trial can now be reported after his conviction at the Old Bailey.

The offences took place between April 2022 at the prison, followed by the Tube assaults between 24 October 2023 and May 2025.

He had already been convicted of sexually assaulting two women in 2018, which was why he was in prison in 2022.

The sex offender had lost sight in one eye in an attack in May 2024 and played on this, claiming that his partial sight made him unsteady on his feet and all contact was accidental on these crowded trains.

Levy's tactic was to tie a jumper or hoodie around his waist, strap his arm down, and then back towards his victim with his hand fully or partially covered so he could grope them.

One of the Tube assault victims told the court: "It wasn't long before I learned that my attacker was already known to the police for sexual violence and is a convicted sex offender.

"You could not begin to understand the horror I felt at hearing this.

"How could a male who does this so often and so brazenly be allowed to repeat his attacks?

"Knowing this made me feel even more unsafe, the possibility that I could encounter Simon Levy again made me fearful and the idea that he would harm more women and that there would be many more victims was unthinkable."

During the sentencing hearing in June for the Tube attacks, Judge Michael Evans told Levy : "You were on the Tube for one purpose only, to sexually assault women."

Levy was convicted of 11 counts of indecent assault, including grabbing the prison guard in 2022, and given an extended sentence consisting of a six-year jail term plus a three-year period on licence.