Police officers investigated by watchdog after serial sex offender killed two women
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is looking into alleged failings by Met officers in their handling of Simon Levy.
Two Metropolitan Police officers are being investigated for misconduct after a serial sex offender went on to murder two women and rape a third.
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Simon Levy carried out a string of attacks against women between 2018 and 2025, including sexual assaults in public and two killings.
The Met Police, British Transport Police (BTP) and the courts have all acknowledged failings in their handling of Levy, who remained on bail as his offending continued.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Kevin Southworth, from the Met, said failures to remand Levy in custody at hearings at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court in May and June 2025 had left him free to kill a second time.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said on Friday that it was investigating alleged failings by Met officers in their management of Levy.
Read more: How a string of failings allowed Simon Levy to stalk the streets and prey on women across London
The watchdog said the investigation covered “the management of Simon Levy from his first conviction in September 2021 up to his arrest in September 2025”.
The IOPC said the investigation was launched in January after the Met referred itself to the watchdog over concerns about its handling of Levy.
The referral focused on alleged failures by two officers after Levy was released from prison on licence in February 2023.
An IOPC spokesperson said: “We are examining whether action could or should have been taken to prevent his reoffending, and if all officers involved in his management followed policies, procedures and training.”
“We are also assessing whether any learning, whether individual, force-wide, or nationally, or other changes should be implemented in light of the events under investigation.”
“At this stage, we have served a gross misconduct notice on a police constable and a misconduct notice on a detective sergeant, which means that the actions of those officers are under investigation.
“The serving of conduct notices does not necessarily mean disciplinary proceedings will follow.”
Levy, of Beaufoy Road, Tottenham, north London, was found guilty at the Old Bailey on Friday of murdering Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo, 53, in March 2025 and Sheryl Wilkins, 39, in August that year.
He was also convicted of two counts of rape, grievous bodily harm with intent and the non-fatal smothering of another woman during a brutal sexual assault in January 2025.
The woman suffered a broken collarbone in the attack, which happened in the same car park where Ms Wilkins was later found dead.