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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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Why do so many from around the world try to cross the English Channel?

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Why do so many from around the world try to cross the English Channel?

While the politicians talk, so many people come from around the world to try to get across the Channel on small boats. But why?

Why make such a perilous crossing to try to get to a country that seems to be getting increasingly hostile to asylum seekers?

As the British and French leaders meet, with small boats at the forefront of their agenda, we came to northern France to get some answers.

It is not a new question, but it is peppered with fresh relevance.

Over the course of a morning spent around a migrant camp in Dunkirk, we meet migrants from Gaza, Iraq, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sri Lanka and beyond.

Some are fearful, waving us away; some are happy to talk. Very few are comfortable to be filmed.

All but one man – who says he’s come to the wrong place and actually wants to claim asylum in Paris – are intent on reaching Britain.

They see the calm seas, feel the light winds – perfect conditions for small boat crossings.

John has come here from South Sudan. He tells me he’s now 18 years old. He left his war-torn home nation just before his 16th birthday. He feels that reaching Britain is his destiny.

“England is my dream country,” he says. “It has been my dream since I was at school. It’s the country that colonised us and when I get there, I will feel like I am home.

“In England, they can give me an opportunity to succeed or to do whatever I need to do in my life. I feel like I am an English child, who was born in Africa.”

John, a migrant from South Sudan, speaks to Sky News Adam Parsons
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‘England is my dream country,’ John tells Adam Parsons

He says he would like to make a career in England, either as a journalist or in human resources, and, like many others we meet, is at pains to insist he will work hard.

The boat crossing is waved away as little more than an inconvenience – a trifle compared with the previous hardships of his journey towards Britain.

We meet a group of men who have all travelled from Gaza, intent on starting new lives in Britain and then bringing their families over to join them.

One man, who left Gaza two years ago, tells me that his son has since been shot in the leg “but there is no hospital for him to go to”.

Next to him, a man called Abdullah says he entered Europe through Greece and stayed there for months on end, but was told the Greek authorities would never allow him to bring over his family.

Britain, he thinks, will be more accommodating. “Gaza is being destroyed – we need help,” he says.

Abdullah, a migrant from Gaza, speaking to Sky's Adam Parsons
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Abdullah says ‘Gaza is being destroyed – we need help’

A man from Eritrea tells us he is escaping a failing country and has friends in Britain – he plans to become a bicycle courier in either London or Manchester.

He can’t stay in France, he says, because he doesn’t speak French. The English language is presented as a huge draw for many of the people we talk to, just as it had been during similar conversations over the course of many years.

I ask many of these people why they don’t want to stay in France, or another safe European country.

Some repeat that they cannot speak the language and feel ostracised. Another says that he tried, and failed, to get a residency permit in both France and Belgium.

But this is also, clearly, a flawed survey. Last year, five times as many people sought asylum in France as in Britain.

And French critics have long insisted that Britain, a country without a European-style ID card system, makes itself attractive to migrants who can “disappear”.

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Migrant Channel crossings hit new record

A young man from Iraq, with absolutely perfect English, comes for a chat. He oozes confidence and a certain amount of mischief.

It has taken him only seven days to get from Iraq to Dunkirk; when I ask how he has made the trip so quickly, he shrugs. “Money talks”.

He looks around him. “Let me tell you – all of these people you see around you will be getting to Britain and the first job they get will be in the black market, so they won’t be paying any tax.

“Back in the day in Britain, they used to welcome immigrants very well, but these days I don’t think they want to, because there’s too many of them coming by boat. Every day it’s about seven or 800 people. That’s too many people.”

“But,” I ask, “if those people are a problem – then what makes you different? Aren’t you a problem too?”

He shakes his head emphatically. “I know that I’m a very good guy. And I won’t be a problem. I’ll only stay in Britain for a few years and then I’ll leave again.”

A young man from Iraq walks away from Sky's Adam Parsons

A man from Sri Lanka says he “will feel safe” when he gets to Britain; a tall, smiling man from Ethiopia echoes the sentiment: “We are not safe in our home country so we have come all this way,” he says. “We want to work, to be part of Britain.”

Emmanuel is another from South Sudan – thoughtful and eloquent. He left his country five years ago – “at the start of COVID” – and has not seen his children in all that time. His aim is to start a new life in Britain, and then to bring his family to join him.

He is a trained electrical engineer, but says he could also work as a lorry driver. He is adamant that Britain has a responsibility to the people of its former colony.

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“The British came to my country – colonising, killing, raping,” he said. “And we didn’t complain. We let it happen.

“I am not the problem. I won’t fight anyone; I want to work. And if I break the laws – if any immigrant breaks the laws – then fine, deport them.

“I know it won’t be easy – some people won’t like me, some people will. But England is my dream.”

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UK and France have ‘shared responsibility’ to tackle illegal migration, Emmanuel Macron says

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UK and France have 'shared responsibility' to tackle illegal migration, Emmanuel Macron says

Emmanuel Macron has said the UK and France have a “shared responsibility” to tackle the “burden” of illegal migration, as he urged co-operation between London and Paris ahead of a crunch summit later this week.

Addressing parliament in the Palace of Westminster on Tuesday, the French president said the UK-France summit would bring “cooperation and tangible results” regarding the small boats crisis in the Channel.

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King Charles III at the State Banquet for President of France Emmanuel Macron. Pic: PA
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King Charles III at the State Banquet for President of France Emmanuel Macron. Pic: PA

Mr Macron – who is the first European leader to make a state visit to the UK since Brexit – told the audience that while migrants’ “hope for a better life elsewhere is legitimate”, “we cannot allow our countries’ rules for taking in people to be flouted and criminal networks to cynically exploit the hopes of so many individuals with so little respect for human life”.

“France and the UK have a shared responsibility to address irregular migration with humanity, solidarity and fairness,” he added.

Looking ahead to the UK-France summit on Thursday, he promised the “best ever cooperation” between France and the UK “to fix today what is a burden for our two countries”.

Sir Keir Starmer will hope to reach a deal with his French counterpart on a “one in, one out” migrant returns deal at the key summit on Thursday.

King Charles also addressed the delegations at a state banquet in Windsor Castle on Tuesday evening, saying the summit would “deepen our alliance and broaden our partnerships still further”.

King Charles speaking at state banquet welcoming Macron.
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King Charles speaking at state banquet welcoming Macron.

Sitting next to President Macron, the monarch said: “Our armed forces will cooperate even more closely across the world, including to support Ukraine as we join together in leading a coalition of the willing in defence of liberty and freedom from oppression. In other words, in defence of our shared values.”

In April, British officials confirmed a pilot scheme was being considered to deport migrants who cross the English Channel in exchange for the UK accepting asylum seekers in France with legitimate claims.

The two countries have engaged in talks about a one-for-one swap, enabling undocumented asylum seekers who have reached the UK by small boat to be returned to France.

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Britain would then receive migrants from France who would have a right to be in the UK, like those who already have family settled here.

The small boats crisis is a pressing issue for the prime minister, given that more than 20,000 migrants crossed the English Channel to the UK in the first six months of this year – a rise of almost 50% on the number crossing in 2024.

France's President Emmanuel Macron speaks at the Palace of Westminster during a state visit to the UK
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President Macron greets Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle at his address to parliament in Westminster.

Elsewhere in his speech, the French president addressed Brexit, and said the UK could not “stay on the sidelines” despite its departure from the European Union.

He said European countries had to break away from economic dependence on the US and China.

Read more:
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“Our two countries are among the oldest sovereign nations in Europe, and sovereignty means a lot to both of us, and everything I referred to was about sovereignty, deciding for ourselves, choosing our technologies, our economy, deciding our diplomacy, and deciding the content we want to share and the ideas we want to share, and the controversies we want to share.

“Even though it is not part of the European Union, the United Kingdom cannot stay on the sidelines because defence and security, competitiveness, democracy – the very core of our identity – are connected across Europe as a continent.”

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In pictures: Princess of Wales, Elton John and Mick Jagger at King’s state banquet for Macron

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In pictures: Princess of Wales, Elton John and Mick Jagger at King's state banquet for Macron

The Princess of Wales and celebrities attended the King’s star-studded state banquet on Tuesday, where Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II.

On the first day of Mr Macron’s state visit, King Charles gave a toast in French and said the three-day trip was another chance to “celebrate a deep and enduring friendship”.

“What’s possibly the most remarkable thing is the way in which the speciality of one country is part of the story of the other,” the monarch said.

“For centuries, our citizens have admired one another. We’ve made each other laugh, and we’ve imitated one another.”

The Prince and Princess of Wales at the State Banquet for President of France Emmanuel Macron. Pic: PA
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The Prince and Princess of Wales at the State Banquet. Pic: PA

The banquet hall at Windsor Castle. Pic: PA
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The banquet hall at Windsor Castle. Pic: PA

The King makes a speech at a banquet at Windsor Castle. Pic: PA
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The King makes a speech at a banquet at Windsor Castle. Pic: PA

King Charles looks at Emmanuel Macron at a state banquet at Windsor Castle
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King Charles looks at Emmanuel Macron at a state banquet at Windsor Castle. Pic: PA

After the King’s speech, Mr Macron told him France had a “real affection for your mother” Queen Elizabeth II, adding he believed the feeling was “reciprocal”.

“She was your queen,” he said. “To us, she was the Queen.”

He capped off his speech – which repeated his calls for closer relations that he made earlier in the Palace of Westminster – by saying: “In honour of the United Kingdom, of this entente amico that unites our two fraternal peoples in an unwavering alliance.

“Long live the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland! Long live France!”

Emmanuel Macron gives a speech at a state banquet at Windsor Castle. Pic: PA
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Emmanuel Macron gives a speech at a state banquet at Windsor Castle. Pic: PA

The Princess of Wales also made her first appearance at a state banquet in almost two years, sitting next to the French president.

She last made an appearance at a grand royal dinner in November 2023 in honour of the South Korean president. It comes after she opened up about her “rollercoaster” cancer recovery last week.

Emmanuel Macron and Kate, the Princess of Wales, share a toast. Pic: PA
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Emmanuel Macron and Kate, the Princess of Wales, share a toast. Pic: PA

Also in attendance were Sir Mick Jagger, frontman of The Rolling Stones, who was joined by his fiancee Melanie Hamrick, and Sir Elton John, who was accompanied by his husband David Furnish.

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Mick Jagger taking his seat at the state banquet at Windsor Castle. Pic: PA
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Mick Jagger taking his seat at the state banquet at Windsor Castle. Pic: PA

Elton John and David Furnish at the state banquet at Windsor Castle. Pic: PA SQUARE
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Elton John and David Furnish at the state banquet at Windsor Castle. Pic: PA

Meanwhile, it was announced that the Bayeux Tapestry, depicting the Norman conquest of England, will return to the UK for the first time in more than 900 years, and will feature in an exhibition from September 2026 to July 2027.

Mr Macron joked ahead of the state banquet that negotiations to bring the 11th-century artwork back to the UK took longer “than all the Brexit tests”. Talks on a loan had started as early as 2018.

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