Sex offenders released on bail ‘day in, day out’ claims police chief in wake of Levy failings

Sex offenders released on bail ‘day in, day out’ claims police chief in wake of Levy failings Simon Levy was jailed for life on Wednesday after being found guilty of murdering two women and raping a third - Bookmark The head of the Metropolitan Police has called on the criminal justice system "to do its job better", warning that dangerous offenders are being granted bail "day in, day out". Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley criticised the courts for repeatedly releasing serial sex attacker Simon Levy on bail, while also conceding there were “things we could have done better”. Speaking to broadcasters on Wednesday after the 40-year-old received a whole-life order for murder and rape, Sir Mark said: "He was repeatedly by the police put before the courts seeking remanding in custody. The police were saying this guy is too dangerous to be on the streets, and between CPS and the courts, they kept bailing him." He argued that it was "not acceptable for a struggling criminal justice system to put increasing amount of risks on the street, and then say to the police ‘we’re going to give you a bigger and bigger list of dangerous people to monitor’ and then focus all the criticism on us if we don’t do it as well as we could". Sir Mark insisted he was not attempting to "absolve" the Met of its own duties, but maintained that "dangerous people need remanding in custody". "We’re seeing far too many cases day in and day out – knife carriers, sex offenders, who are being bailed when a few years ago they would’ve been remanded in custody and we can’t carry all of that load in communities. We will do everything we can do to do better, but the justice system needs to carry more of the load than it is at the moment, rather than passing it back onto the streets," he said. Pressed on the role played by police in stopping Levy in his tracks, Sir Mark noted the force had "already apologised", while pointing to "complexities" in the case. He said: "We need a justice system that helps us rather than keep putting dangerous people back on the streets when that’s obviously the wrong answer… "But you can’t just put all the risk into communities, not take dangerous people into prison when there’s a strong case to do so, and then say to the police, you just carry all that risk, and we’ll blame you when it goes wrong. The justice system needs to do its job better." Victims’ Commissioner Claire Waxman described the case as "appalling", stating that it "represents one of the most shocking examples of systemic failure in recent years". She added: "A dangerous serial sex offender repeatedly came to the attention of multiple agencies, yet critical opportunities to identify the risk he posed, share information and take protective action were missed. The consequences in this case were devastating." She stated that she was "gravely concerned these failures and oversights will not be one-offs" in light of the criminal justice system being under "unprecedented pressure".