Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has pushed back against claims that officers failed to pursue murder charges against Simon Levy after his first killing, even as he conceded the force made significant mistakes in monitoring the double murderer. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said public criticism of the investigation needed to be grounded in a fuller understanding of the evidence detectives had at the time.
Levy, 40, was under police bail and subject to offender monitoring when he killed Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo in March 2025 and Sheryl Wilkins five months later, and also carried out a violent rape against a third woman. Both the Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecution Service have already apologised for a string of decisions that allowed the convicted sex offender to remain free to attack the women.
the facts on that are much more complex than people want to acknowledge
Why didn't police treat the first killing as murder sooner?
Sir Mark said Valencia-Trujillo's death in March 2025 was
clearly very suspicious and concerningbut that a pathologist could not establish a cause of death, leaving investigators without sufficient grounds to bring a charge. He said detectives only secured the combined evidence needed to move the case forward after Wilkins was murdered, and firmly rejected the idea that officers had failed to make an effort on the earlier case.
So the inference that the Met didn't try on that case is just not true, the Met tried
What mistakes has the Met admitted to?
The commissioner acknowledged that the force had been too slow in one key respect, waiting five months before questioning Levy over the sexual assault of a female prison officer at HMP Brixton in April 2022. He also admitted it was an error to downgrade Levy from a high-risk to a medium-risk sex offender in August 2024, a reclassification that reduced the level of monitoring and contact required.
Those are mistakes and those are our mistakes, that is part of what is being investigated and that is part of what we've apologised for
Sir Mark also pointed to failings beyond his own force, noting that Levy had been released on licence by the prison service despite having sexually assaulted a member of prison staff.
[Levy] was released on licence by the prison service having sexually assaulted in prison one its people. I don't understand that decision either.
We take our accountability seriously, the rest of the system is not doing that
What new scrutiny is the case facing?
The police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct, has been examining how Levy was managed over the four-year period between his first conviction for sexual assault in September 2021 and his final arrest in September 2025. According to a national broadcaster's report, two Metropolitan Police officers are now formally under misconduct investigation over their handling of the case. Separately, Police Oracle reports that the watchdog's probe was opened in January following a voluntary referral from the Met, and concerns alleged failures by the two officers after Levy was released on licence in February 2023.
The Metropolitan Police has also issued a public appeal noting that detectives are keeping an open mind about the possibility of further victims and are asking anyone with information about Levy to come forward, according to the force's official appeal notice, which describes him as one of London's most violent and prolific predators.
What was Levy convicted and sentenced for?
Levy was given a whole life sentence at the Old Bailey on 12 August 2026, meaning he will never be released. The judge imposed whole life orders for both murders alongside concurrent life sentences carrying a minimum term of 12 years for the rape offences, according to a live update from a national broadcaster's live coverage, which also notes that fewer than 100 murder convicts in England and Wales are currently serving whole life sentences.
This latest sentencing follows earlier stages of the case, including his conviction and the launch of the misconduct investigations, detailed in our earlier coverage of his conviction, and his denial of the charges at trial, reported in our report on the trial proceedings. Full details of the sentencing itself, including Sir Mark's description of a "whole system failing," were covered in our coverage of the sentencing hearing.
How has the case drawn criticism from campaigners and MPs?
Former safeguarding minister Jess Phillips said on 12 August 2026 that Levy's second murder could have been avoided had the state not failed, describing the case as showing a litany of failures. Her criticism was echoed by Mina Smallman, the mother of Nicole Smallman, 27, and Bibaa Henry, 46, who were stabbed to death in a London park in June 2020, a case in which the Metropolitan Police was also criticised and two former officers were later jailed for sharing photographs of the sisters' bodies in a WhatsApp group.
Speaking to the Today programme, Smallman suggested that because Valencia-Trujillo carried out sex work, she was not taken seriously by police.
Once again the Met is deciding who matters. Both those women's lives were important to their families.
After reading this case, I sent a text message to Sir Mark and said to him 'how many times are you going to stand up publicly and apologise for failures in the Met?'. It becomes a joke
Despite her criticism, Smallman said she believes Sir Mark genuinely wants to change the Met and do things differently, but argued the force has become too big and is being asked to do too much.
Is the Met under-resourced to handle the caseload?
Sir Mark said the wider policing system is struggling because of long-term underinvestment by successive governments. He noted the Met is now 4,000 officers smaller than it was four years ago, even as the number of registered sex offenders it monitors across London stands at 10,800 and is growing by 100 every three months.
The whole system is struggling. This is a systemic disinvestment by successive governments.
What happens next?
The IOPC's investigation into the conduct of the two officers remains ongoing, meaning any disciplinary findings or outcomes are still to come, according to a national broadcaster's report. Detectives are also continuing to seek information from potential further victim-survivors, according to the Metropolitan Police's public appeal, indicating that the wider investigation into Levy's offending has not yet been closed.
Key Facts
- Simon Levy, 40, was given a whole life sentence at the Old Bailey on 12 August 2026 for murdering Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo and Sheryl Wilkins and raping a third woman.
- He was on police bail and under offender monitoring at the time of both murders, having first been convicted of sexual assault in September 2021.
- Two Metropolitan Police officers are under separate misconduct investigation by the IOPC, a probe opened in January 2026 after a voluntary referral from the force.
- The Met currently monitors 10,800 registered sex offenders in London, a number Sir Mark Rowley says is growing by 100 every three months, while the force has shrunk by 4,000 officers over four years.
- Detectives are continuing to appeal for information from any further potential victims of Levy.
