Butcher jailed for life for Libby Squire’s rape and murder

A butcher and serial sex offender who raped and murdered University of Hull student Libby Squire has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 27 years in prison.

Libby, 21, went missing in Hull after a night out with friends on January 31, 2019, in which she was refused entry to a nightclub.

Pawel Relowicz, 26, raped the second-year Philosophy student on a playing field before dumping her body in the river on February 1, 2019.

The body recovered near Grimsby Docks was confirmed as Libby Squire. | Photo: Humberside Police

A nationwide search and rescue mission began to try and find her, before her body was eventually found in the Humber Estuary, close to Spurn Point near Grimsby Docks, seven weeks later on March 20.

Father-of-two Relowicz showed no emotion as he was convicted by a jury at Sheffield Crown Court on Friday, February 12 after 28 hours of deliberations, according to Sky News, who also posted a video of her final moments before she was raped and killed.

The jury had heard a mass of circumstantial evidence linking Relowicz to the disappearance of Libby. Relowicz was found guilty of rape unanimously by a jury of five men and seven women and guilty of murder by a majority of 11 to one.

Her friends paid a taxi driver to take her home, but she wandered the streets instead of going into her shared student house. She also fell over in the snow and had refused offers of help from passersby before encountering Relowicz.

He picked her up as she wandered around the Beverley Road area of Hull in a confused and upset state after being too drunk to get into a club.

However, he told the jury he did not kill her and said he had consensual sex with her at Oak Road playing Fields.

Relowicz, who gave evidence through an interpreter during his four-and-a-half week trial, admitted a series of what his barrister described as “utterly disgusting” sexual offences in the months before that night.

He also admitted to watching porn and masturbating in the street in the hours after he said he had sex with the student.

The court was told how he was driving around the city on the evening Libby disappeared as he was “looking for a woman to have easy sex”.

CCTV, witness testimony, forensic evidence (DNA), Relowicz’s changing testimony and previous offending history presented an extremely compelling case, which helped the jury reach its conclusions.

Libby Squire | Photo: Humberside Police

After the conclusion of the trial, Libby’s parents Lisa and Russ Squire said: “Firstly, we would like to thank everybody for their love and support over the past two years. We have really appreciated it.

“Our special thanks go out to the police teams and all the other agencies that have been involved with Libby’s case from the outset through to now.

“As a family, today’s verdict changes nothing for us – there is no closure. We don’t get to have Libby back. Our lives do not revert back to normal.

“However, we are pleased that all the hard work and dedication of the police and legal team has been recognised.

“Libby will always be with us. We are so proud of our beautiful, caring, amazingly wonderful girl and although she has been physically taken from us, the memories we have and the love we share can never be taken.”