Simon Levy, a partially blind 40-year-old, was convicted at the Old Bailey of murdering two women and sexually assaulting ten others on the Tube. He used a stolen Oyster card, originally belonging to bus driver Phillip Clarke, to move freely across London's transport network. Despite being arrested four times between November 2024 and June last year, police repeatedly failed to seize the card, allowing his offending to continue.
Police Failures
A British Transport Police spokesman admitted officers failed to notice the card was stolen, despite it being clearly marked 'Bus Operator issued subject to conditions'. Former Met DCI David McKelvey said: "If the police had that card and released it to him then they effectively facilitated his offending." The card was finally seized by homicide detectives when Levy was arrested for Sheryl Wilkins' murder in September last year.
Attacks and Conviction
Levy attacked his first victim on the Jubilee Line in October 2023, but most of his offending occurred after he obtained the travelcard, which Clarke lost at the Notting Hill carnival on August 26, 2024. Despite being reported lost, the card was not deactivated. Levy used it to travel to Elephant and Castle, near where Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo was murdered, and continued to target women on crowded trains.
He was found guilty of murdering Sheryl Wilkins, 39, and Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo, 53, and of sexually assaulting ten women aged between 18 and 32. He was jailed for six years with a further three on licence. Prosecutor Will Martin described how Levy squeezed a woman's bottom on a Central Line train, and another victim said she "felt violated" after he groped her.
Missed Opportunities
Levy was arrested on November 4, 2024, and bailed, but kept the card. He was arrested again on April 1 last year on suspicion of Carmenza's murder, but was released and allowed to keep the pass. He attacked five more women before being arrested for a third time in May, and a fourth time in June, yet the card was never seized until September. British Transport Police Det Supt Peter Fulton apologised, saying: "It should have been done much quicker and much more efficiently." Met Deputy Assistant Commissioner Kevin Southworth admitted a "collective system failure" and apologised to the victims.
