A woman who was attacked by double murderer Simon Levy eight years ago has told the BBC the police made her nightmare “real life” by letting him go on to kill and attack more women.

Laura, whose surname we are not using, said she had been trying to protect other women by reporting Levy in 2018, but feels betrayed by what he was later allowed to do after being released from jail.

Levy was convicted on Friday of murdering Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo and Sheryl Wilkins and raping another woman in London in 2025. He will be sentenced on Wednesday.

He was also convicted earlier this year of sexually assaulting 11 other women, 10 of them on trains and the Tube in London between 2023 and 2025.

Police, prosecutors and the courts made a series of disastrous decisions that left Levy free. He went on to attack 14 more women before being taken off the streets, despite being a sex offender who was monitored by the Met Police.

Levy was a registered sex offender because he sexually assaulted Laura – and a separate victim – in summer 2018.

Laura says that Levy is “evil” and that his attack “completely changed my life”.

But she now realises that what she would “think about, dream about, have nightmares about was actually happening – he was actually still out preying on vulnerable women”.

Waiving her anonymity, she said she had been trying to protect other women by ensuring that Levy was jailed.

“I feel like when I reported it, I was doing the right thing and I thought I was doing it to protect other women.

“I feel absolutely devastated for all of those women that have been affected by him – and the families.”

Laura says she feels let down by the whole criminal justice system including the Met Police, the courts and judges who bailed Levy, as well as the Crown Prosecution Service.

“They’re all as guilty for allowing him to continue to do what he was doing”, she says.

“They could have prevented so many women from being hurt.

“They could have prevented two women from losing their lives.”

Laura encountered Levy while with a friend travelling to the Notting Hill Carnival on the London Underground in August 2018. He latched onto them and followed them to the carnival. He then subjected her to a serious sexual assault.

Laura says she forced Levy off and became “hysterical” and started “crying”. With her friend, they tried to escape Levy but he kept following them. Eventually, a group of men chased him off after she told people what had happened.

But when she tried to report the crime to police officers, she was turned away.

She says two Met officers told her that they “were busy with other, more urgent, things”.

A third, female officer eventually took her details, but Laura says the officer didn’t make sure she was safe, or look for Levy that day, despite Laura and her friend having a photo of him.

“There was a lot more things they could have done to make me feel supported”, she says.

Challenged on the response to Laura at the carnival, the Met Police said: “We are sorry the victim felt unsupported in this case and don’t underestimate the impact this incident had on her.

“A crime report was created the following day with a wide range of enquiries carried out. Levy was identified, arrested and later convicted.”

After later being contacted by officers, Laura gave a statement 15 days after the attack, and attended an ID parade the next year.

It took three years for Levy to go to court. In 2021 he was convicted of sexually assaulting her, as well as another woman he had assaulted a month before Laura.

He was jailed for three years, but released on licence despite sexually assaulting a prison officer.

Laura found out Simon Levy was going to be on trial for two murders when she Googled his name earlier this year.

“My heart dropped in my stomach when I read that”, she says.

Laura says she was also shocked to discover out that Levy had already been investigated for allegedly sexually assaulting another woman in 2017.

He was not charged at the time, something now viewed as a mistake by the CPS and the Met.

“Had they charged him in 2017, I may not have even ever had to go to court. I may never have been assaulted, ever”.

She says there should be a societal change in the approach to male violence against women and girls.

“They need to look at everything, all of it, because they could have prevented so many women from being hurt.

“They could have prevented two women from losing their lives.”

She adds: “I hope that other victims in the future will be believed, will be dealt with differently, will be listened to straightaway, and I just hope that there’s change”.

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