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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