Simon Levy, 40, has become the latest criminal to be handed a whole-life order, meaning he will die in prison. He was sentenced today for the murders of Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo, 53, and Sheryl Wilkins, 39, and the rape of a third woman. Levy, who committed sexual assaults on the Tube before escalating to murder, was found guilty by a jury last week.
Levy joins list of Britain's most infamous criminals
Levy will never be freed and joins a list of about 70 criminals serving whole-life orders, some in secure hospitals. Among them are Wayne Couzens, who murdered Sarah Everard, and Lucy Letby, the neonatal nurse convicted of murdering seven infants.
Other notable names on the list include David Taylor, who was given a whole-life order earlier this year for murdering child killer Kyle Bevan at HMP Wakefield, and Jamie Varley, who received a whole-life order in June for the murder and sexual abuse of his adopted 13-month-old baby Preston Davey.
Recent additions to the list
Sharaz Ali was given a whole-life order in March for killing his ex-partner's sister, nieces and nephew by setting fire to their home in Bradford in 2024. Triple killer Kyle Clifford was handed a whole-life order in March last year for the murders of his ex-partner Louise Hunt, 25, her sister Hannah Hunt, 28, and their mother Carol Hunt, 61.
Double murderer Steve Sansom also received the punishment for the "bloodthirsty" killing of Sarah Mayhew while he was out of prison on licence for another murder.
Only four women have received whole-life orders
Only four women have faced such a sentence: Letby; Myra Hindley, who died in 2002; and serial killers Rose West and Joanna Dennehy. Letby was jailed in August 2023 for a "cruel, calculated and cynical campaign" of baby murder.
Other criminals serving whole-life orders include Michael Adebolajo, one of the killers of Fusilier Lee Rigby; Mark Bridger, who murdered five-year-old April Jones; neo-Nazi Thomas Mair, who killed MP Jo Cox; and serial killer Stephen Port.
Legal changes affecting whole-life orders
Under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, which became law in 2023, the government expanded the use of whole-life orders for the premeditated murder of a child. The reforms also allow judges to hand down the maximum sentence to 18 to 20-year-olds in exceptional cases, such as for acts of terrorism leading to mass loss of life.
Manchester Arena bomb plotter Hashem Abedi avoided a whole-life order because he was 21 at the time. Southport killer Axel Rudakubana could not be sentenced to a whole-life order by law because he committed the murders nine days before his 18th birthday; after turning 18, he was jailed for a minimum of 52 years in January last year.
