Grieving mum urges students to report all sex crimes

Lisa Squire (left) has helped Assistant Chief Constable Katy Barrow-Grint develop a new campaign for Thames Valley Police

The mother of a student murdered following a night out is working with a police force to encourage people to report all non-contact sexual offences.

Lisa Squire's daughter Libby was 21 when she was raped and murdered in 2019 in Hull by Pawel Relowicz, who it later emerged had previously committed a string of sex crimes against women.

She is now backing a Thames Valley Police campaign called It Does Matter, highlighting the importance of reporting offences such as upskirting, voyeurism and indecent exposure.

Mrs Squire, from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, said she hoped something good would come from her daughter's death and that students would heed the advice.

"Libby is gone and we can't have her back, but she's making such a difference to other women - and I think she'd be really proud of that," she told the BBC.

Mrs Squire, pictured with her daughter Libby, hopes victims will report any sex offences, even if they may initially seem trivial

University student Libby was getting out of a taxi near her home when she was picked up in a car by Relowicz, who raped and murdered her before throwing her body into the Humber.

Relowicz had been stalking the streets for 18 months prior to the murder. It emerged he had exposed himself and committed acts of voyeurism during that time - but these had gone unreported by his victims.

He was jailed for a minimum of 27 years.

"I'm sure in Libby's case, had he been apprehended when he'd committed the non-contact things, then things may well have been different but they weren't so I don't dwell on that," said Mrs Squire.

"Every case [like Libby's] that comes up you realise there was a non-contact element before the rape or murder - it just makes me cross because we're not listening, we're not watching, so we need to change."

Libby Squire was murdered after a night out in Hull

The campaign will specifically target 18 to 24-year-olds, using real stories and social media accounts with the tag line "speak up, stand together, stay safe".

The force is promising to take all reports seriously.

"If we treat it as intelligence, as information - we can put together patterns, we can make sure we've got proactive patrols and we can do everything we can do to catch that perpetrator if they try and do it again," said Assistant Chief Constable Katy Barrow-Grint.

"We know from a policing perspective that many people don't report when they have been subjected to flashing, indecent exposure, voyeurism, up-skirting... it really is an epidemic - and what does get reported to the police is just the tip of the iceberg."

Thames Valley Police said it would be engaging with students at freshers' fairs across the region.