BREAKING: Pawel Relowicz found guilty of raping and murdering Libby Squire

The verdict comes more than two years on from when the Hull University student went missing and after six days of deliberations.

Libby Squire went missing in Hull in January 2019 and was found dead seven weeks later.
Author: Liam ArrowsmithPublished 11th Feb 2021
Last updated 11th Feb 2021

Pawel Relowicz has been found found guilty of raping and murdering Libby Squire.

The verdict comes two years after the Hull University student went missing, after a night out with her friends.

The jury returned a majority verdict of 11-1 on the charge of murder, and a unanimous verdict on the charge of rape.

The court case

Ms Squire went missing after a night out on February 1 2019, and her body was found almost seven weeks later in the Humber Estuary.

Sheffield Crown Court heard Pawel Relowicz, 26, raped the 21-year-old on a playing field in Hull before dumping her in the River Hull.

Relowicz was found guilty of rape unanimously by a jury of five men and seven women and guilty of murder on a majority of 11 to one.

The judge, Mrs Justice Lambert said he will be sentenced on Friday.

A mass of circumstantial evidence

Father-of-two Relowicz, who was found to have committed a series of strange and frightening sex offences after he was arrested, picked up the second year philosophy student as she wandered around the Beverley Road area of Hull in a confused, upset and drunken state in freezing conditions.

The jury had heard a mass of circumstantial evidence linking Relowicz to Ms Squire’s disappearance, despite pathologists being unable to determine how she died.

Relowicz told the jury he did not kill Ms Squire and said he had consensual sex with her on Oak Road.

Pawel Relowicz invented a “web of lies” after taking advantage of Libby Squire’s “vulnerable and distressed” state, the Crown Prosecution Service said.

Artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Pawel Relowicz (2nd right) appearing at Sheffield Crown Court. Pawel Relowicz has been found guilty at Sheffield Crown Court of raping and murdering Hull University student Libby Squire.

"Relowicz robbed a young and vibrant woman of her life and her future"

In a statement after the verdicts, Gerry Wareham, of the CPS, said: “Relowicz robbed a young and vibrant woman of her life and her future. His actions have left her family and friends devastated.

“Relowicz invented a web of lies to explain his actions that night, insisting throughout that he had tried to help Libby find her way home.

“Nothing could be further from the truth. Far from being a good Samaritan, Relowicz preyed upon her, he took advantage of her vulnerable and distressed state and then he raped and murdered her.

“I cannot begin to imagine the suffering Libby’s family are enduring. I can only hope that today’s verdict can bring them some measure of comfort. Our thoughts remain with them.”