Failure to jail serial sex attacker Simon Levy before he murdered two women among 'the worst blunders' I have seen in 16 years covering crime, REBECCA CAMBER tells exclusive Daily Mail podcast

On an exclusive episode of the Daily Mail's The Trial podcast, host Caroline Cheetham and veteran crime reporter Rebecca Camber lay bare the years of missed opportunities to put sexual predator Simon Levy behind bars before he murdered two women.Levy, 40, was today convicted of murdering sex workers Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo, 54, and Sheryl Wilkins, 39, whose bodies were found five months apart in south and north London last year. He was also found guilty of twice raping, suffocating and inflicting grievous bodily harm on another woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons.Levy already had a sizable rap sheet for sex crimes stretching back to 2018. He had been convicted 13 times, including for an attack on a female officer inside HMP Brixton while serving his first sentence. Yet police and the courts bailed him again and again, and each time he went out and attacked more women.Camber, who has covered the case for the Daily Mail from the Old Bailey, was scathing about the collective failure of police, courts and the probation service, which allowed Levy to escalate over seven years from groping women at street parties to murder. On an exclusive Trial podcast, Caroline Cheetham and Rebecca Camber lay bare the years of missed opportunities to put Simon Levy (pictured) behind bars before he murdered two women'This is right up there among the worst blunders I have ever seen', Camber said.'Time and time again, by different agencies of the criminal justice system - police, probation, the courts - they basically let this guy get away with it.'As a result, two women are dead. A woman has been raped - and women using the London underground were attacked almost daily by this predator.'No one put him behind bars, this is a collective failure. After all the promises made after Sarah Everard's murder, all the promises to tackle violence against women and girls - this case just makes a mockery of every single one.'It took more than three years for Levy to be jailed for the 2018 sexual assaults. He was not even arrested until 15 months after the attacks, and was then bailed, leaving him free in the community until he was finally remanded in August 2021.While inside HMP Brixton he sexually assaulted a female prison officer, yet was still automatically released at the halfway point of his three year sentence in February 2023.Back in the community and under probation supervision, Levy told officers he never left home because he is blind in one eye. In reality, within months of his release he had begun attacking women on the London Underground.Camber argued the lie should have been obvious: a routine police records check would have shown he was also on bail for attacks on the Tube network, but seemingly nobody ever ran one.By spring 2025, Levy was under suspicion for the murder of Ms Valencia-Trujillo and had been charged with five sexual assaults on the Tube. British Transport Police remanded him in custody overnight. Yet the very next morning, magistrates at Highbury Corner released him on bail once again. Levy was today convicted of murdering sex workers Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo (L) and Sheryl Wilkins (R)Camber explained: 'At this stage, this is a man who has been charged with five sexual assaults and is under suspicion for murder. Yet still, magistrates send him out the door.'What does he do? He goes on to attack yet another woman at Westminster Station. He's summoned again to Highbury Corner a few days later to face a sixth sexual assault charge.'He can't even be bothered to show up at court. Despite this, police fail to seek a warrant for his arrest.'Three weeks later, he's spotted on the underground by a British Transport Police officer. He's charged with breaching his bail conditions by going on the tube, failing to appear at court, and also committing two further sexual attacks at Charing Cross and Westminster Station. Yet incredibly, when he appears at court on June 21, he is granted bail yet again.'This is a man who thinks he will keep getting away with it. He thinks he is invincible… Why did nobody do anything? He's suspected of murder, yet he is allowed to remain free.'Listen to the first in a series of exclusive Simon Levy podcasts by subscribing to The Crime Desk. Subscribers gain access to Trial+, ad-free listening and a host of other benefits.