Libby Squire: Man who raped and murdered student jailed for 27 years

Pawel Relowicz found guilty at Sheffield Crown Court

Pawel Relowicz, as drawn, in court (PA)

The man who raped and murdered Hull University student Libby Squire has been jailed for a minimum of 27 years.

Pawel Relowicz, 26, a serial sex offender, was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court yesterday.

The married father-of-two was convicted by a jury on Thursday following 28 hours of deliberations.

During sentencing, Ms Squire’s parents Lisa and Russ gave emotional statements about the loss of their daughter.

Lisa Squire told the court: “Not only have I lost my first-born child with whom I had an amazing bond but I’ve also lost the possibility of being a grandmother to her children.

“In any times of trouble, she wanted me, her mum. She knew I would do anything in my power to help her. Knowing I was not there when she needed me will haunt me for the rest of my life.

“Because of what happened that night to Libby, I now live in two worlds – one where I’m a mother, wife and employee, but then there is a dark and lonely world. In this world I long to die so I can be with my girl one more time.”

Relowicz followed Ms Squire as she attempted to find her way home in a drunk and confused state in the early hours of 1 February 2019.

He lured her into his car before driving to a playing field where he raped and murdered her.

Relowicz then dumped her body in the River Hull and it was found in the Humber Estuary nearly seven weeks later.

A mass of circumstantial evidence linked Relowicz to the philosophy student’s disappearance, although pathologists could not determine exactly how she died.

Relowicz, a bacon factory worker from Poland, was arrested after detectives trawled through hours of CCTV and saw his car cruising in the area.

The court heard that Ms Squire, 21, had been out with friends on the evening of 31 January 2019 but was refused entry to a club because she was drunk.

Her friends paid a taxi driver to take her home but instead of going into her shared students’ house, she wandered around, fell over in the snow and refused offers of help from passers-by.

He was to tell police five versions of what happened and – after his DNA was discovered in her body – told the jury he did not kill her and said he had consensual sex with her in Oak Road.

He admitted a series of what his barrister called “utterly disgusting” sexual offences in the months before that night, committing acts of voyeurism and stealing intimate items from student homes as trophies.

Giving evidence through an interpreter, Relowicz, of Hull, told the court he was driving around that evening, “looking for a woman to have easy sex,” with.

He 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.

Additional reporting by Press Association