The head of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Mark Rowley, has defended the force's investigation into double murderer Simon Levy, asserting that public discourse on the matter needs to be better informed. While acknowledging mistakes in the handling of Levy's case, Rowley stated that suggestions the police did not attempt to build a case for his first murder are "just not true."
Levy was on bail and under police monitoring when he murdered Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo in March 2025 and Sheryl Wilkins five months later, in addition to violently raping a third woman. The police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have issued apologies for a series of decisions that allowed the convicted sex offender to commit further offenses. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is currently reviewing how Levy, 40, was managed over the four-year period from his first conviction in September 2021 for sexual assault until his final arrest in September 2025. Levy received a whole life prison sentence at the Old Bailey, meaning he will never be released.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Sir Mark, who previously described the case as a "whole system failing," reiterated his apology for the Met's shortcomings. It had emerged that the Met did not classify Valencia-Trujillo's death in March 2025 as a murder or refer the case to specialist homicide detectives until after Levy had committed a second murder.
Sir Mark explained that while Valencia-Trujillo's death was "clearly very suspicious and concerning," a pathologist could not determine a cause of death, and the force "didn't have enough evidence to get to a charge." He added that it was only after Wilkins' murder that the Met possessed the "combined evidence" to proceed, emphasizing that "the inference that the Met didn't try on that case is just not true, the Met tried."
Rowley also highlighted failures by other government agencies. "[Levy] was released on licence by the prison service having sexually assaulted in prison one its people. I don't understand that decision either," he stated, adding, "We take our accountability seriously, the rest of the system is not doing that."