Libby Squire's mum calls for non-contact sex crime rehabilitation rules

Lisa Squire, pictured with daughter Libby, said tougher sentences would also help to protect women

The mother of murdered student Libby Squire has said people who commit non-contact sexual offences should be forced into treatment to prevent their crimes escalating further.

Libby, 21, was raped and murdered by Pawel Relowicz, who had a history of spying on female students in Hull.

Lisa Squire also called for a review of sentencing guidelines for men convicted of offences such as voyeurism.

She said she hoped Libby's legacy would be better protection for women.

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Relowicz, who was jailed for 27 years in February 2021, had previous convictions for voyeurism, performing sex acts in public and stealing sex toys and underwear from women's homes.

Speaking on the third anniversary of Libby's disappearance, Mrs Squire, who is due to meet with Prime Minister Boris Johnson to discuss her campaign, said she would continue to fight to make the streets safer.

"People think these offences are harmless - but they're not harmless," she said.

"We can't say that all people who commit a non-contact sexual offence are going to go on to become rapists and murderers, but I think we can probably say that most rapists and murderers started off with non-contact sexual offences.

"I also think these people need help, there should be a facility for them and they should be forced to go into treatment, or have therapy, for what they have done," she added.

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

Libby, from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, had been picked up by Relowicz after she was turned away from the Welly nightclub on 31 January 2019.

His trial heard he then drove her to secluded playing fields, attacked her and put her body into the River Hull.

The philosophy student was missing for seven weeks before her body was recovered from the Humber Estuary.

Mrs Squire is calling for tougher penalties for offenders like Relowicz, who she wishes to meet in order to gain answers about her daughter's death.

"I want her legacy to be a change for women, because of what happened to her, I want other women to be safer and I will honour her until I take my last breath and making sure she's not forgotten."