Libby Squire’s killer exposed himself to her weeks before she was murdered, mum says

Lisa Squire said her daughter was flashed on her way home weeks before her tragic murder
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The man who killed Libby Squire exposed himself to her weeks before her murder, her mother believes.

Pawel Relowicz, 28, dumped the body of the 21-year-old student in the River Hull after raping her on a playing field in the early hours of 1 February 2019.

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He was convicted of raping and murdering Ms Squire when he chanced upon her after she had been out with friends, and was jailed for a minimum term of 27 years following a four-week trial at Sheffield Crown Court.

The jury dismissed his claim he had consensual sex, and accepted that he cajoled or forced her into his car, drove to isolated playing fields at Oak Road, Hull, then disposed of her dead or dying body in the river. The judge said that from the moment Relowicz spotted Ms Squire, who was drunk, confused and upset in the street, she “did not have a chance”.

But before carrying out the murder, Relowicz, a married father-of-two and a Polish butcher, had committed a string of sexually-motivated crimes in Hull’s student quarter. This included peering through windows to watch young women and breaking into their homes to steal intimate items.

Libby Squire’s killer exposed himself to her weeks before her murder, her mother believes (Photo: PA)Libby Squire’s killer exposed himself to her weeks before her murder, her mother believes (Photo: PA)
Libby Squire’s killer exposed himself to her weeks before her murder, her mother believes (Photo: PA)

Lisa Squire said a stranger she now believes to be Relowicz had exposed himself to her daughter on her way home weeks before her death. She said the incident had left Ms Squire “absolutely furious”, but she had never thought to tell her to report the incident to the police.

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Mrs Squire told The Guardian: “I never thought to say to her: ‘You need to report that, you need to ring the police’. And she didn’t report it either. We’re almost conditioned to ignore indecent exposure. I didn’t know better then, but I know better now.”

Pawel Relowicz who has been jailed at Sheffield Crown Court for life with a minimum term of 27 years (Photo: Humberside Police / PA)Pawel Relowicz who has been jailed at Sheffield Crown Court for life with a minimum term of 27 years (Photo: Humberside Police / PA)
Pawel Relowicz who has been jailed at Sheffield Crown Court for life with a minimum term of 27 years (Photo: Humberside Police / PA)

Mrs Squire was speaking just days after Sarah Everard’s killer Wayne Couzens was finally brought to justice for a series of earlier flashing incidents. Ex-officer Couzens, 50, was supposed to be on duty and working from home when he exposed himself to a female cyclist in a country lane in Kent in November 2020.

He went on to expose himself to female attendants at a McDonald’s drive-through in Swanley, Kent, twice in February 2021 – the last incident just days before he snatched Ms Everard, 33, in south London.

Libby Squire had gone out with friends and had been refused entry to a nightclub when Relowicz saw her in the street (Photo Humberside Police / PA)Libby Squire had gone out with friends and had been refused entry to a nightclub when Relowicz saw her in the street (Photo Humberside Police / PA)
Libby Squire had gone out with friends and had been refused entry to a nightclub when Relowicz saw her in the street (Photo Humberside Police / PA)

Mrs Squire said she was “absolutely horrified” when she learned about the details of Ms Everard’s murder as they were “identical” to her daughter’s. She admitted that she will never be able to prove that it was Relowicz who flashed her daughter, but said “the coincidence is there”.

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She added: “As likely as not, it was Relowicz who flashed Libby because he was doing that in the area at the time. I’ll never be able to prove that but the coincidence is there, isn’t it?”

During Relowicz’s sentencing hearing, Mrs Justice Lambert said he had been “emboldened” by the fact he had not been stopped.

Mrs Squires has been campaigning for earlier intervention and harsher measures for lower-level sex crimes since the death of her daughter.

She said: “Not every non-contact sexual offender will go on and become a rapist, but every rapist was a non-contact sexual offender at one point. So I think we need to take them for the red flags that they really are.”