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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Amy-Clare Martin

‘I was fighting for my life’: Woman could not breathe during alleged rape by man accused of double murder, jury told

Simon Levy, 40, is standing trial at the Old Bailey - (PA Wire)

A woman was “fighting for her life” as she was pinned to ground and raped by a convicted sexual predator accused of murdering two other women, a court heard.

In a tearful police interview played to jurors at the Old Bailey, the woman said she thought she was going to die as her attacker held his hands over her mouth and neck and put his fingers in her mouth.

Simon Levy, 40, denies raping, assaulting and smothering the woman, who cannot be named, in a B&M car park in Tottenham, north London, in January 2025.

He is further accused of murdering Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo, 53, in March 2025 and Sheryl Wilkins, 39, five months later in August. Ms Wilkins body was found in the same car park where the woman said she was raped.

In a police interview played at his Old Bailey trial, the woman wiped away tears as she described being attacked, adding: “I would never think this man would be so evil.”

Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo, 53, died in the Aylesbury Estate, south-east London, in March 2025 (PA Media)
Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo, 53, died in the Aylesbury Estate, south-east London, in March 2025 (PA Media)

She told police that she had a drug habit and was doing sex work in the evenings when she saw a man near a bus stop and offered him business.

He asked her if there were cameras in the carpark before they went there to have sex, she told police. But when they arrived and she asked him for the money, he put his hand behind her neck before he pinned her to the ground with “all his weight”, breaking her collarbone, she said.

She went on: “From that moment I believe I have a broke clavicle from him so my shoulder is broken.

“I hit my head on the ground so I was a bit dizzy. He put his arms over my face. I couldn’t believe. I was kicking my legs as I was lying down under him and I was fighting. I was fighting for my life.”

She said he stuck his finger in her throat so she couldn’t make noise, adding: “I believe I am going to die. I couldn’t breathe, I just couldn’t breathe.”

She told the police she would never forget the smell of his “salty” hands.

The woman said she managed to turn onto her stomach before he sexually assaulted her. He told her “shut up and be quiet, I have got you” during the incident before she fell unconscious, the court heard. When she awoke, her body was “hurting” and she was bleeding, she said.

The woman went on to identify Levy in an identity parade, the court was told.

Sheryl Wilkins, 39, died in August last year (Metropolitan Police)
Sheryl Wilkins, 39, died in August last year (Metropolitan Police)

Levy is accused of killing two other women in March and August last year during the course of sexual encounters.

The defendant, of Beaufoy Road, Tottenham, north London, has pleaded not guilty to the two women’s murders. He has further denied two charges of rape, grievous bodily harm with intent, and non-fatal suffocation against the surviving woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.

The prosecution told the court on Monday that Levy has previous convictions for sexual assault.

Jurors heard he was convicted of two sexual assaults committed in 2018, and more recently of 11 counts of sexual assault after a trial in February this year.

The Old Bailey trial continues.

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