The caput of the Metropolitan Police Sir Mark Rowley has defended the force's probe into treble murderer Simon Levy.
Levy was connected bail and being monitored by constabulary erstwhile helium murdered Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo successful March 2025 and Sheryl Wilkins 5 months later, arsenic good arsenic violently raping a 3rd woman.
Sir Mark acknowledged mistakes implicit the force's handling of Levy, but said suggestions it had not tried to physique a lawsuit implicit his archetypal execution were "just not true", pursuing disapproval including from Labour MP Jess Phillips.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that detectives had done "serious" enactment but "didn't person capable evidence" for a charge.
The police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has apologised implicit a bid of decisions that near the convicted enactment offender escaped to onslaught the women.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is presently examining however Levy, 40, was managed implicit the four-year play from his archetypal condemnation successful September 2021 for intersexual battle up to his last apprehension successful September 2025.
At the Old Bailey connected Wednesday, helium was fixed a full beingness situation sentence, meaning helium volition ne'er beryllium released.
Speaking connected BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Sir Mark - who connected Wednesday called the lawsuit a "whole strategy failing" - said helium had already apologised for what the Met had got wrong.
It emerged aft Levy's condemnation that the Met did not people Valencia-Trujillo's decease successful March 2025 arsenic a murder, oregon walk the lawsuit to specializer homicide detectives, until aft helium had killed again.
But Sir Mark said "the nationalist statement needs to beryllium amended informed" due to the fact that "the facts connected that are overmuch much analyzable than radical privation to acknowledge".
He said that portion Valencia-Trujillo's decease was "clearly precise suspicious and concerning", a pathologist was incapable to find a origin of decease and the unit "didn't person capable grounds to get to a charge".
Sir Mark added it was lone aft the execution of Wilkins that the Met had the "combined evidence" to determination forward.
"So the inference that the Met didn't effort connected that lawsuit is conscionable not true, the Met tried," helium said.
Sir Mark acknowledged mistakes were made, saying the unit was "too slow" to enactment erstwhile it waited 5 months to question Levy implicit the intersexual battle of a pistillate situation serviceman successful HMP Brixton successful April 2022.
He besides said it was a mistake to downgrade Levy from a high-risk enactment offender to a mean 1 successful August 2024, meaning a little level of monitoring and interaction was required.
"Those are mistakes and those are our mistakes, that is portion of what is being investigated and that is portion of what we've apologised for," helium said.
But the Met main besides emphasised failures by different authorities agencies: "[Levy] was released connected licence by the situation work having sexually assaulted successful situation 1 its people. I don't recognize that determination either."
"We instrumentality our accountability seriously, the remainder of the strategy is not doing that," helium said.
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