Libby Squire: Mother of murdered student wants to meet her killer

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Lisa Squire with daughter LibbyImage source, Humberside Police
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Lisa Squire said her daughter Libby was a "massive force"

The mother of a student murdered and raped by a serial sex offender has said she now wanted to meet her daughter's killer to ask how she died.

Libby Squire, 21, from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, was on a night out in Hull, East Yorkshire, in 2019 when she vanished.

Mother Lisa Squire said she needed to quiz Pawel Relowicz, jailed last year.

"It's torturous not knowing how she died," said Mrs Squire. "I want to know everything about what happened."

Image source, PA Media
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Lisa Squire said Libby's father Russell was supportive of her need to question Relowicz but did not want to meet him too

The University of Hull philosophy student had been missing for seven weeks before her body was found in the Humber Estuary.

Mrs Squire said she felt the urge to face Relowicz as the third anniversary of her daughter's disappearance on 31 January loomed with many questions remaining unanswered about her final moments.

"Obviously Libby can't tell me - he's the only person who can tell me," said Mrs Squire.

"I want to know was she crying, was she scared, did she ask for me?

"I'd like to know how she died, I'd like to know whereabouts he put her into the water."

Image source, Squire family
Image caption,

University of Hull student Libby Squire was raped and murdered after disappearing on a night out

Investigations were unable to establish how Libby died, or whether she was still alive when she went into the estuary.

Relowicz, a married father of two with a history of spying on students, was jailed for 27 years in February 2021.

He was sentenced following a 14-day trial, but it failed to shed much light on how Libby died.

Mrs Squire said although she wanted to sit down with the former butcher as part of a restorative justice process, he could refuse to see her.

"It will be another something I've done to put all the pieces of the jigsaw together," she said.

"I'm fully aware he may say things designed to hurt me... but... that's my choice.

"He's been found by a court of law to be guilty of my daughter's rape and murder and if the parent or family wants to sit down with that person - who has done that most despicable act - then they should be made to do it."

Speaking to BBC Three Counties Radio, Mrs Squire also said she would meet Boris Johnson in the next month to discuss changing the laws for "low-level" sexual crimes.

She has called for tougher measures for men convicted of non-contact sexual offences, such as upskirting and voyeurism.

Relowicz had previous convictions for voyeurism, performing sex acts in public and stealing sex toys and underwear from women's homes.

"I'm not expecting thing to change overnight as I know that's not the way things work but it's just nice to know he's prepared to meet me and listen," said Mrs Squire.

Listen to the full interview on BBC Three Counties breakfast show on 19 January 2022

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