Double killer Simon Levy is accused of strangling and stabbing a prison guard with a pen while awaiting trial for murder, Westminster Magistrates' Court heard. Levy, 41, who has been sentenced to a whole life term for the murders of two women and the near-fatal assault of a third, faces new charges of intentional strangulation and assaulting a person occasioning actual bodily harm.
The incident allegedly occurred on February 18 of this year at Belmarsh Prison. Prosecutor David Burns told the court that Levy, described as partially blind, leapt on a male prison officer during a meeting. He is accused of stabbing the officer multiple times with a pen, targeting the neck and arm, and then grabbing the officer's throat.
"He got hold of him around the throat and he felt his grip tighten around his throat," Burns stated. He added that the attack is aggravated by the fact that the victim was a prison officer.
Levy appeared via video link from prison to enter not-guilty pleas to the charges. His defense lawyer, Jason Lartey, stated that Levy denies assaulting the officer in any way. Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram, learning that Levy had recently received a whole life order, sent the case to Inner London Crown Court for trial, with a hearing scheduled for September 14.
Last week, at the Old Bailey, Judge Mark Lucraft sentenced Levy to a whole-life tariff, noting a "morbid fascination with sex, rape and crime." Detectives believe Levy's criminal activity may have spanned years, escalating from sexual assaults on the London Underground to rape and murder. Despite previous convictions for sexual violence dating back to 2018, authorities have been criticized for failing to fully appreciate the danger he posed, releasing him on bail four times. While on bail, Levy is believed to have committed at least six sexual assaults on the Tube, including raping and attempting to suffocate a sex worker in January of the previous year, before committing the two murders months later. Police and prosecutors have since apologized for failures that allowed Levy to remain at liberty.