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The mother of murdered student Libby Squire has revealed that the “sexual predator” who raped and killed the 21-year-old has agreed to meet her. 

Lisa Squire told Sky News she is determined to find out what exactly happened to her daughter after she was abducted by Pawel Relowicz – and hopes to get answers by speaking to him.

The Polish butcher was jailed for 27 years for raping and murdering Libby, who disappeared during a night out in Hull in January 2019. Her body was found seven weeks later in the Humber Estuary.

Libby Squire. Pic: Libby, Are You Home Yet? Sky and Candour Productions

Relowicz, now 28, denied killing Libby and pathologists were unable to determine a cause of death because of the amount of time her body had been in the water.

Mrs Squire said she was in the process of arranging a meeting with Relowicz through a restorative justice charity, adding that it was “quite a brave thing” for him to do.

“A lot of people don’t understand this – I don’t hate him,” she told Sky News.

“I’m not angry with him. I just want information from him.

“I don’t wish to forgive him. I don’t wish to understand why he did what he did.

“For me, it’s very much about finding out how she was in those last 20 minutes of her life.”

Lisa and Libby Squire. Pic: Libby, Are You Home Yet? Sky and Candour Productions
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Lisa Squire and her daughter Libby

Libby’s killer sets conditions for meeting

Mrs Squire said a date has not yet been set for the meeting and Relowicz has outlined certain conditions that are still to be resolved.

She said: “We’ve got to the stage where he’s agreed to see me but has changed some of the parameters.

“For me, it’s really important to find out how she died. I need to know that.

“Will I believe him if he tells me? I don’t know.

“There are lots of questions I want to ask.”

Lisa Squire

Mrs Squire said Relowicz, who was found guilty of Libby’s rape and murder following a trial last year, still denies the crimes.

On the conditions he has set for their meeting, she added: “As far as I’m aware, he doesn’t want to talk about what happened that night, which is the only reason I want to see him.

“We have to come up with some sort of arrangement, between him and I, as to what we’re going to talk about.

“It’s actually quite a brave thing for him to do. Prisoners don’t get any reward for seeing the victim’s family.

“To agree to see me in the first place is a big thing. And I am grateful.

“I certainly don’t want him as my best friend, but I don’t hate him.

“He holds the key to questions I have.”

Pawel Relowicz (R) appeared to laugh after being told of his arrest for Libby's rape and murder. Pic: Libby, Are You Home Yet? Sky and Candour ProductionsMust credit: Libby, Are You Home Yet? Sky and Candour Productions
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Pawel Relowicz (R) appeared to laugh after being told of his arrest for Libby’s rape and murder. Pic: Libby, Are You Home Yet? Sky and Candour Productions

Fears Relowicz could kill again

Libby’s murder is explored in a new Sky Crime documentary – called Libby, Are You Home Yet? – which features previously unreleased footage of Relowicz laughing as he is told he is being arrested for Libby’s rape and murder.

The three-part programme considers whether Relowicz, a father of two who lived with his wife and children in Hull, could have been stopped earlier by police after he committed a string of offences – including voyeurism, outraging public decency and burglary – in the months before Libby was killed.

Relowicz had been carrying out a campaign of chilling, sexually motivated crimes in the student area of Hull – peering through windows to watch young women, breaking into their homes to steal intimate items, and masturbating in the street.

Pawel Relowicz (R) appeared to laugh after being told of his arrest for Libby's rape and murder. Pic: Libby, Are You Home Yet? Sky and Candour Productions
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Pic: Libby, Are You Home Yet? Sky and Candour Productions

In the hours after raping and killing Libby, he returned home and watched pornography before going out again in an apparent search for another victim.

Mrs Squire – who describes Relowicz in the documentary as a “sexual predator” whose crimes were “stomach churning” – told Sky News she fears he will kill again if he is released at the end of his 27-year sentence.

“There is not a question of doubt in my mind that if he only gets to serve 27 years, he will come out and do it again, because he will only be in his early 50s,” she said.

Pawel Relowicz recorded footage of himself using a drone. Pic: Sky and Candour Productions
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Police uncovered drone footage Relowicz recorded of himself. Pic: Libby, Are You Home Yet? Sky and Candour Productions

“He shows no remorse now and I don’t believe in 20 years’ time he’ll show any remorse.

“He will come out and do it again. I’m absolutely convinced of it.

“For such a young man to do such horrendous things, even putting Libby’s rape and murder to one side, the things he was doing were just so abnormal for all men.

“He is an incredibly dangerous individual.

“Whilst I’ve got breath in my body, I will ensure that man never comes out of prison – ever.”

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Libby Squire’s mother: ‘Verdict changes nothing’

Libby’s killer ‘should have same sentence as Wayne Couzens’

Mrs Squire believes her daughter’s killer should have received a whole life prison sentence – like the one given to police officer Wayne Couzens, who abducted, raped and murdered Sarah Everard.

She has argued that whole life tariffs should be the automatic sentence for anyone convicted of murder, but says when she put this to Boris Johnson during a meeting earlier this year, the then prime minister told her: “There aren’t the prison spaces.”

Libby Squire in Paris in May 2017 during a gap year when she visited the French city with friends

In response to that, Mrs Squire said: “Well then build more prisons, it’s a simple as that.

“Anyone who goes out and takes a life should be given a whole life tariff, end of.

“In 27 years, Libby doesn’t come back. I don’t get my daughter back. My children don’t get to have their sister back.

“We have a whole life sentence to live.

“This was a choice. [Relowicz] chose to do this. I didn’t have any choice in this and yet it seems to me that we are punished more than they are.

“The Wayne Couzens and Relowicz sentences should be the same.”

What happened to Libby Squire?

Student Libby Squire disappeared after going on a night out with friends in Hull on the evening of 31 January 2019.

The 21-year-old was refused entry to a club for being too drunk so her friends paid a taxi driver to take her home.

After arriving at her shared student house, Libby did not enter the property and wandered off, falling over in the snow and refusing offers of help from passers-by.

She was last on CCTV shortly after midnight getting into Pawel Relowicz’s car when she was probably hypothermic.

The married father-of-two picked up Libby around the Beverley Road area of Hull and drove her to isolated playing fields nearby.

A couple living next to the fields reported hearing “high-pitched female screams” that night.

The second-year philosophy student was reported missing on 1 February, sparking a large-scale investigation from Humberside Police.

Relowicz was arrested on 6 February and he initially denied having sex with Libby, but changed his story after being challenged with DNA evidence when her body was found in the River Humber almost seven weeks later.

He then claimed they had consensual sex and that he had left her at the playing fields, insisting he did not kill her.

His story was rejected by a jury at Sheffield Crown Court and he was found guilty last year of Libby’s rape and murder.

In sentencing, the judge – who also dealt with his previous offending of voyeurism, outraging public decency and burglary – said Relowicz conducted a “perverted campaign of sexually deviant behaviour”.

‘If one of you had gone home with her, she would still be alive today’

In the documentary, friends of Libby, who were with her on the night she disappeared, reveal they were blamed by some people for not travelling home with her after she was refused entry to the club.

One friend, Amelia, says she was in a taxi when the driver turned around and said it was her fault that Libby had gone missing.

Mrs Squire told Sky News that only Relowicz was to blame for her daughter’s death but admitted she went through a phase where she thought: “Without question, if one of you had gone home with her, she would still be alive today.”

“That is the truth. There is no getting away from that fact,” Mrs Squire said.

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Libby Squire’s final moments

“But they didn’t do any of this deliberately. They didn’t know what was going to happen.

“Those poor people who were with her that night have got to live with this for the rest of their lives.

“They have a whole different life because of what that man did to our daughter.

“I never blamed them… there’s only one person to blame for Libby’s death.”

Mrs Squire says she now tells Libby’s three siblings when they go out: “Be aware of your surroundings, be aware of who you are, and never leave your mates – if you go out as a two, you come home as a two.”

Lisa Squire, the mother of student Libby Squire

Libby was strangled or asphyxiated, mother believes

On the night Libby was killed, Mrs Squire believes her daughter had gone for a walk to calm down because she was angry about being refused entry to the club.

She also believes Relowicz either persuaded her daughter to get into his car “under false pretences” or that he “put her” in the vehicle.

“I believe there’s only two possibilities of how she died – asphyxiation or strangulation,” she said.

“I would like to know because it’s a massive thing. It’s very hard to not know how your child has died.

“I would like for him to tell me but I don’t think he ever will.”

Pawel Relowicz still

‘I miss her beyond belief’

Mrs Squire said her husband Russ declined to feature in the documentary as Libby’s death remains “incredibly raw for him” and he does not want to meet Relowicz.

“Not being able to see her and speak to her every day, it is torture,” Mrs Squire said of her daughter.

“It goes without saying I miss her beyond belief. I still get really tearful when I think about it.

“I’m incredibly proud of her. She’s making such a difference to people even now.

“I miss her. I miss her so much and it’s really hard. Some days I struggle to get out of bed to carry on a day without her.

“I know if I gave in and laid in bed, she would be saying: ‘For goodness’ sake, get up. You can’t be laying in bed all day’.

“Everything I do, I do to honour her and make my other children proud.”

Libby, Are You Home Yet? is available from 27 October on Sky Crime at 9pm and streaming service Now

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Rival groups face off outside migrant hotel – as asylum seekers ‘blow kisses’ at protesters

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Rival groups face off outside migrant hotel - as asylum seekers 'blow kisses' at protesters

Several demonstrators have been detained after rival groups faced off over a hotel accommodating asylum seekers in north London, with police breaking up brief clashes.

The Metropolitan Police has since imposed conditions on the protest and counter-protest outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in Islington.

The protest was organised by local residents under the banner “Thistle Barbican needs to go – locals say no”.

The group of several hundred people waved union flags and banners, and one man chanted: “Get these scum off our streets.”

Anti-immigration protesters outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in central London, which houses asylum seekers. Pic: PA
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Anti-immigration protesters waved Union Jack flags. Pic: PA

A larger group staged a counter demonstration to voice support for asylum seekers, bearing a banner that read: “Refugees are welcome.”

People inside the hotel, believed to be migrants, watched on, with some waving and blowing kisses from the windows.

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People believed to be asylum seekers waved from the windows of Thistle City Barbican Hotel. Pic: PA
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People believed to be asylum seekers waved the hotel windows. Pic: PA

Pro-immigration protesters gather outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in central London, which houses asylum seekers. Pic: PA
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Pro-immigration protesters gathered by the Thistle City Barbican Hotel. Pic: PA

A man wearing an England football shirt was detained by police after getting into an altercation with officers.

There have been nine arrests so far, seven of which were for breaching conditions police put on the protests under the Public Order Act.

Rival groups separated by police

Another protest was scheduled in Newcastle on Saturday, outside The New Bridge Hotel, as anti-migrant sentiment ripples through some communities around the country, also flaring up recently in Epping.

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Last week: Protesters divided over migrant hotels

The counter-protest in London was organised by local branches of Stand Up To Racism, and supported by former Labour leader and Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn.

Other community groups including Finsbury Park Mosque and Islington Labour Party were also involved.

Groups online that backed the original protest include “Patriots of Britain” and “Together for the Children”.

At one point, a large group of masked protesters dressed in black, calling themselves anti-fascists, appeared from a side street and marched towards the rival group outside the hotel.

The two groups briefly clashed before police rushed in to separate them.

Masked protesters gather outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in central London, which houses asylum seekers. Pic: PA
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Pic: PA

Supporters of local protest group "Thistle Barbican needs to go - locals say no" gathering outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel. Pic: PA
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Supporters of local protest group ‘Thistle Barbican needs to go – locals say no’. Pic: PA

Why are asylum hotels used?

The government is legally required to provide accommodation and subsistence to destitute asylum seekers while their claims are being decided, most of whom are prohibited from working.

A jump in the use of hotels since 2020 has been attributed to the impacts of the COVID pandemic, a backlog in unresolved asylum cases, and an increase in the number of migrants crossing the Channel in small boats.

However, the number of asylum seekers living in hotels has fallen recently, from 38,079 at the end of 2024 to 32,345 at the end of March 2025, according to the Refugee Council.

How police tried to keep groups apart

The police imposed conditions on both groups in London to prevent “serious disorder” and minimise disruption to the community.

Those in the anti-asylum hotel protest were told to remain within King Charles Square, and to gather not before 1pm and wrap up by 4pm.

Those in the counter-protest were to required to stay in an area in Lever Street, and assemble only between 12pm and 4pm, but were still in eye and ear shot of the other group.

Chief Superintendent Clair Haynes, in charge of the policing operation, said: “We have been in discussions with the organisers of both protests in recent days, building on the ongoing engagement between local officers, community groups and partners.

“We understand that there are strongly held views on all sides.

“Our officers will police without fear or favour, ensuring those exercising their right to protest can do so safely, but intervening at the first sign of actions that cross the line into criminality.”

Meanwhile, the protest in Newcastle was promoted by online posts saying it was “for our children, for our future”.

The “stop the far right and fascists in Newcastle” counter-protest was organised by Stand Up To Racism at the nearby Laing Art Gallery.

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Jon Ruben remanded into custody on child cruelty charges after children fell ill at summer camp

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Jon Ruben remanded into custody on child cruelty charges after children fell ill at summer camp

A man has been remanded into custody charged with child cruelty offences after allegedly lacing sweets with sedatives.

Jon Ruben, 76, of Ruddington, Nottinghamshire, appeared at Leicester Magistrates’ Court on Saturday after youngsters fell ill at a summer camp in Stathern, Leicestershire.

He has been charged with three counts of wilfully assaulting, ill-treating, neglecting, abandoning or exposing children in a manner likely to cause them unnecessary suffering or injury to health.

The charges relate to three boys at the camp between 25-29 July.

A general view of the scene in Stathern, Leicestershire, after a 76-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of administering poison at a summ
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The scene in Stathern, Leicestershire. Pic: PA

Ruben spoke only to confirm his name, age and address.

Police received a report of children feeling unwell at a camp being held at Stathern Lodge, near Melton in Leicestershire, last Sunday.

Officers said paramedics attended the scene and eight boys – aged between eight and 11 – were taken to hospital as a precaution, as was an adult. They have since been discharged.

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Police said the “owners and operators of Stathern Lodge are independent from those people who use or hire the lodge and are not connected to the incident”.

Leicestershire Police has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, after officers initially reported the incident as having happened on Monday, only to later amend it to Sunday.

It is still unclear when officers responded and whether that is why the watchdog referral has been made.

Ruben will next appear at Leicester Crown Court on 29 August.

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‘This shouldn’t have happened’: Bishop who interrupted church choir in dressing gown apologises

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'This shouldn't have happened': Bishop who interrupted church choir in dressing gown apologises

A bishop who interrupted a church concert in his dressing gown – and told singers to “leave his house” – has formally apologised to the choir.

Jonathan Baker was filmed standing barefoot at a microphone as he criticised performers for making a “terrible racket” at St Andrew’s Church in central London.

Addressing the City Academy Voices choir directly, the bishop of Fulham said: “I write to apologise for the distress and offence I caused in bringing the concert to a premature end.

“This should not have happened … I also apologise for remarks which were made in haste, and which have understandably caused hurt and distress.”

The bishop, in his dressing gown, gave the choir a dressing down
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The bishop, in his dressing gown, gave the choir a dressing down

Mr Baker had demanded for the performance to stop because it was 10pm – and says he didn’t realise the choir had booked the church until 11pm.

In the statement obtained by Sky News, he added: “I have lived here on site at St Andrew’s for 10 years, for much of which City Academy has rehearsed and performed here.

“You have been, and continue to be, welcome – and I hope that you will be able to continue the relationship with us.

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“I can give you every assurance that the events of Friday evening will not recur, and I apologise again to performers (especially those unable to perform at the end of the evening) and the audience alike.”

The choir performed their last song
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The choir performed their last song

The choir was performing to a 300-strong audience in Holborn when the lights were suddenly turned off, with Mr Baker declaring the concert was “over”.

A church employee then asked the crowd to leave quietly and for the musicians to step down from the stage, attracting boos from the audience.

The choir went on to perform one last song, an A cappella version of ABBA’s Dancing Queen, before bringing their show to a close.

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Bishop
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Jonathan Baker has apologised

One member of the audience, who was attending with his 10-year-old daughter, told Sky News he initially thought the interruption was a staged joke.

Benedict Collins had told Sky News: “This work deserves respect, not to be disparaged as a ‘terrible racket’. The people here had put their heart and soul into it.

“The bishop cut them off in midstream, preventing soloists who had worked their hardest from singing – and preventing the audience, which included people of all ages, from enjoying it to the end.”

The choir told Sky News it was “upsetting” that they were unable to finish their show as planned, but “hold no hard feelings and wish the bishop well”.

A spokesperson added: “If anyone is thinking of joining one of our choirs, the City Academy Voices rehearse on Mondays in central London. Dressing gowns optional.”

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