Mother of murdered student Libby Squire says she doesn’t hate daughter’s killer

‘I don’t actually have any feelings towards him,’ says Lisa Squire

The mother of a young woman who was raped and murdered says she doesn’t hate her daughter’s killer as she prepares to meet him for the first time in prison.

Libby Squire, a 21-year-old Hull University student, was killed by Pawel Relowicz, now 28, after she disappeared on a night out in January 2019.

Her body was found in the Humber Estuary seven weeks later.

“I don’t actually have any feelings towards him,” Ms Squire’s mother Lisa Squire told the BBC ahead of her meeting with Relowicz.

"I don’t hate him because it’s not going to get me anywhere and, for me, anger is very destructible,” she added.

Lisa Squire, the mother of student Libby Squire, is preparing to meet her daughter’s killer (PA Archive)

“It’s very draining and the more time I spend being angry with him the less time I can spend thinking about Libby, looking after my other children and doing family things."

Relowicz, a father of two, prowled the streets of Hull looking for a victim before attacking Ms Squire.

Jurors heard how he intercepted a drunk and “extremely vulnerable” Ms Squire after she was turned away from a nightclub in Hull in the early hours of 1 February.

He then drove Ms Squire in his car to Oak Road playing fields. He then raped and murdered her before dumping her body in the River Hull.

Libby Squire was attacked on a night out in Hull (Lisa Squire)

During his 14-day trial at Sheffield Crown Court it emerged that Roelowicz, who worked as a butcher, had previous convictions for voyeurism, performing sex acts in public and stealing sex toys and underwear from women’s homes.

He refused to admit to raping or murdering Ms Squire. He claimed that he had consensual sex with her and lied about the sequence of events on the night she disappeared because he was afraid of his wife finding out he had cheated on her.

Although the Polish national was found guilty, pathologists were unable to determine Ms Squire’s cause of death because of the amount of time her body had been in the water.

Pawel Relowicz was jailed for 27 years after being found guilty of rape and murder (PA Media)

In her interview, Ms Squire’s mother said she wants to know the circumstances surrounding the murder.

"There is a whole load of questions that go through my mind on a daily basis but the biggest one is how did she die?” she said.

"I don’t think he will yet but who knows, in years to come maybe he will,” she added, when asked if she thought Relowicz would provide her with the answers.

Relowicz, who was sentenced to 27 years in jail in February 2021, has agreed to meet Ms Squire through the restorative justice charity, although a date has yet to be confirmed.