Simon Levy, a double killer already serving a whole-life prison term, has denied stabbing a prison guard in the neck with a pen and attempting to strangle him during an incident at HMP Belmarsh in February. Appearing via videolink at Woolwich Crown Court, Levy pleaded not guilty to charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and intentional strangulation, with a trial date set for February 2027. The case adds a further chapter to the history of an offender whose prior repeated release on bail, despite mounting evidence against him, has drawn serious scrutiny of police and prosecutorial failings.

Prosecutors allege Levy attacked guard Paul Dunne with a pen, stabbing him in the arm and neck before grabbing him by the throat as he lay on the floor, in an incident on 18 February while Levy was held on remand at the maximum-security prison. Levy, formerly of Tottenham, was given a whole-life term in August for murdering Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo, 53, and Sheryl Wilkins, 39, and for raping a third woman, after a pattern of offending — including at least 13 sexual assaults and repeated attacks on the London Underground — that went unchecked despite multiple arrests and bail extensions by police and magistrates.