A 40-year-old man has been charged with the murder of a sex worker found dead in a North London car park and with a series of alleged violent sexual offences against a different woman earlier this year, the Old Bailey heard on Wednesday.
Simon Levy is accused of murdering 39-year-old Sheryl Wilkins on Aug. 24 and of strangulation, grievous bodily harm with intent and two counts of rape against another sex worker on Jan. 21, prosecutors said. The woman who survived the January attack cannot be named for legal reasons.
Prosecutor Kerry Broome told the court that CCTV captured movements in the lead-up to the death of Wilkins. "At approximately 12.10am on 21 August Sheryl Wilkins met the defendant on Tottenham High Road," Broome said. The pair walked toward a car park behind a B&M store, a location Broome described as known for drug use and the supply of sexual services for money. The footage, the prosecutor said, shows the defendant and the deceased go behind a wall at the back of the car park and later Levy emerging from the area and leaving wearing sunglasses.
Police officers conducting a routine check of the car park found Wilkins’s body face down at about 6:30 a.m. The body was discovered with the head and torso covered by a jacket. Investigators recorded bruising and scratches on the body, but a post-mortem examination has not reached a definitive cause of death; one possibility under consideration is drowning, the court heard.
Broome told the court that the January incident involved a separate sex worker who had agreed to provide sexual services. Levy is alleged to have refused to pay, knocked the woman to the floor, and jumped on her, breaking her collarbone. He is accused of placing his hands over her face and suffocating her until she lost consciousness. That victim survived the attack.
Levy, who is partially blind in one eye, appeared at the Old Bailey by video link from HMP Belmarsh wearing dark glasses and a prison-issue tracksuit. He answered only to confirm his name and date of birth and was remanded in custody by Judge Sarah Munro. Levy is due to appear for a plea and trial preparation hearing on Nov. 26.
Officers arrested Levy on Sept. 4 in connection with both incidents, the court was told. He faces one count of murder and four offences relating to the alleged violent rape and assault of the other woman.
The prosecution’s account underscores investigative challenges in cases involving sex workers, whose encounters in isolated urban locations can complicate timely discovery and forensic examination. Advocates and some police bodies have previously highlighted that sex workers are at elevated risk of violent crime and that incidents sometimes go unreported because of stigma or fear of engagement with authorities.
The case will return to the Old Bailey in November as prosecutors prepare their case. No plea was entered at Wednesday’s hearing. The charges remain allegations and Levy is to be treated as innocent until proven guilty in court.