A 40-year-old man who murdered a 53-year-old grandmother on the Aylesbury Estate in south London has been handed a whole-life order and will spend the remainder of his life behind bars, the Old Bailey heard on Wednesday.
Background and convictions
Simon Levy, who lived on Beaufoy Road in Tottenham, was convicted earlier this month of multiple serious offences following a five-week trial. The jury found him guilty of two counts of murder, including the killing of Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo, a 53-year-old grandmother originally from Colombia, who was last seen near Wendover House on the Aylesbury Estate.
As well as the two murder convictions, Levy was found guilty of:
- two counts of rape;
- grievous bodily harm with intent;
- intentional strangulation of another woman;
- and, in a separate earlier hearing, multiple counts of sexual assault on London trains.
At a previous sentencing earlier this year, on 16 June, Levy received a further six-year prison term (with an additional three years on licence) after being convicted of 11 counts of sexual assault on Tube and Overground services. Prosecutors said those assaults took place between 24 October 2023 and 29 May 2025, and included an incident near Canada Water in October 2023 involving 10 victims.
Events around the Aylesbury Estate
CCTV evidence featured prominently in the recent sentencing. Judge Mark Lucraft KC described footage placing Ms Valencia-Trujillo “relatively close” to Wendover House on Thurlow Street, close to the Old Kent Road, at about 6am on 16 March 2025. Further CCTV showed the defendant in the vicinity that afternoon, and the judge said images captured Ms Valencia-Trujillo walking along the Old Kent Road just after 3pm — the last confirmed sightings of her alive.
Levy was later recorded on CCTV on Thurlow Street at 6.23pm, then walking to Elephant & Castle station at 6.52pm before returning to his North London home.
Judgement and judicial remarks
At the sentencing hearing the judge told the court that Levy had mounted a series of deliberate attacks on vulnerable women. The bench imposed a whole-life order, meaning there is no prospect of release.
“You are clearly someone who ruthlessly exploits others for your own personal sexual satisfaction,”
Those were the words used by Judge Mark Lucraft KC when addressing the defendant in court.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Age of defendant | 40 |
| Age of one victim (Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo) | 53 |
| Earlier train assault convictions | 11 counts (24 Oct 2023–29 May 2025) |
| Additional custodial term | 6 years plus 3 years on licence |
Local impact and wider context
The Aylesbury Estate, a large council estate off the Old Kent Road where Wendover House stands, has been the focus of public attention in recent years for a range of social issues. While these particular crimes were committed in south London rather than in Buckinghamshire, the case will resonate with local communities everywhere because of the highly disturbing nature of the offences and the targeting of vulnerable women.
Sentencing remarks and the whole-life order underline the seriousness with which the courts treated the pattern of offending. The additional convictions relating to assaults on trains serve as a reminder of wider concerns about safety on public transport.
For residents living on or near the estate, the case will inevitably raise questions about community safety, CCTV coverage and support for vulnerable people. The court heard how CCTV evidence was crucial in establishing movements on the day Ms Valencia-Trujillo was last seen alive; that reliance on camera footage is becoming increasingly central to investigations of this kind.
The whole-life order means the defendant will never be released, a conclusion the judge said reflected the calculated and repeated nature of the attacks.
Further legal paperwork and formal sentencing documents remain a matter for the court record; the convictions and sentencing handed down at the Old Bailey set a clear judicial conclusion to a case that began with the disappearance and subsequent murder of a grandmother whose death has devastated family and community alike.
