North London charity boss criticises Met over handling of Levy double murder case

Simon Levy from Tottenham committed several sexual offences against women before going on to kill twice, reports Joe Ives, Local Democracy Reporter

Sheryl Wilkins (left) and Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo (right)

A sexual violence charity boss in North London has criticised the Metropolitan Police for “deeply disturbing” failings in the case of double-murderer Simon Levy.

Levy, aged 40 and from Tottenham, was found guilty last week of murdering Carmenza Valencia Trujillo and Sheryl Wilkins in 2025, as well as two counts of rape, grievous bodily harm, and intentional strangulation of another woman the same year.

Citing insufficient evidence, the Met released Levy on bail as a suspect in the murder of the first victim, 53-year-old Carmenza, who had been killed in March 2025. While on bail, Levy murdered Sheryl Wilkins, aged 39, in August 2025.

When first jailed for sexual offences in 2021, Levy sexually assaulted a female prison officer. He also committed a number of sexual assaults, including rape, on trains across London between 2023 and 2025.

Appearing at the Old Bailey on Wednesday (12th), Levy was given a whole life sentence for the two murders, plus the rape and assault of the third victim, who survived.

Solace Women’s Aid, based in Camden, is London’s largest domestic abuse and sexual violence charity.

In a statement on Monday (10th), Solace chief executive officer Nahar Choudhury condemned the Met’s investigations into Levy as “deeply disturbing” and of “repeated failing”.

Choudhury continued: “For far too long, survivors have told us that they have been dismissed, disbelieved and failed by the Met, leaving them, and other women, without the support and protection they need.”

The charity’s CEO said the police’s responses “must be fully scrutinised and the misogynistic culture which has allowed these systemic failings to persist must be urgently stamped out”.

Barnet Council recently agreed to extend its contract for women’s refuge services with Solace until the end of March 2030. The contract will cost the council around £210,000 per year.

According to the local authority, the charity “provides safe, secure accommodation and specialist support for women and children fleeing domestic abuse” in Barnet.

The Barnet refuge service is described as playing a “critical role” in preventing violence against women and girls in the borough. In addition, it acts to improve outcomes for victims and their children and “strengthen multi-agency safeguarding responses”.

Under the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, the council has a legal obligation to provide accommodation-based support for victims of domestic abuse.

The work of Solace Women’s Aid is also part of the council’s violence against women and girls (VAWG) strategy 2025-29, described as a “borough-wide vision to prevent violence, support victims, and hold perpetrators accountable”.

This week Sir Mark Rowley, Metropolitan Police commissioner, called the Levy case a “whole system failing”, arguing that it was only after Levy’s second murder that the Met had the “combined evidence” to move forward.

In a statement released by the police force on Wednesday, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Kevin Southworth said: “We know that this case has raised questions around the way Levy was handled and we have carefully reflected on the opportunities missed to prevent his violent offending.

“It highlighted that improvements needed to be made and we have not waited for the outcome of the IOPC’s [Independent Office for Police Conduct] report to implement change.

“As the commissioner recently said, we are concerned by the fragility of the criminal justice system. As we have seen in Levy’s case, despite clear risk and rapid escalation, the courts defaulted to bail on two occasions.

“We now need to work together, with other judicial partners, to create and implement a plan of action which sees repeat offenders – like Levy – automatically placed on remand to protect the wider public.”

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