Libby Squire murderer Pawel Relowicz could have sentence increased

A man jailed for the rape and murder of university student Libby Squire could have his sentence increased after his case was referred to the Attorney General.

Butcher Pawel Relowicz, 26, was handed a life sentence with a minimum 27-year term last month.

Sheffield Crown Court heard he targeted Squire, 21, on 31 January 2019 before driving her to a secluded place, raping her and dumping her body into a river.

Squire, a philosophy undergraduate at the University of Hull, was discovered more than six weeks later in the Humber Estuary.

Relowicz's sentence, which was handed to him last month, could now be increased after his case was referred to the attorney general.

Watch: Butcher jailed for 27 years for rape and murder of Libby Squire

A spokesman said: ​“We have received a request for the sentence of Pawel Relowicz to be considered under the unduly lenient sentence scheme.

They said a decision would be made within 28 days of the sentencing.

The trial heard Relowicz “targeted” Libby after seeing her “drunk” and “vulnerable” in the streets of Hull on 31 January 2019.

He then took her in his car to a remote playing field and raped her before dumping her “dead or dying” into a river.

Relowicz admitted having sex with University of Hull undergraduate Libby but claimed it was consensual.

Libby’s body was recovered from the Humber Estuary on 20 March, following the largest search in Humberside Police’s history.

Relowicz was initially arrested on suspicion of abduction but was then charged with and convicted for a series of different offences.

In the 18 months prior to Libby’s disappearance, it was heard, Relowicz committed a series of sexually-motivated crimes in the student area of Hull.

He broke into women’s homes and stole sex toys and underwear and masturbated at unwitting members of the public in the street.

Relowicz was charged with Libby’s rape and murder in August 2019.

In his opening, prosecutor Richard Wright QC told the court Libby was out drinking with friends on the evening of 31 January.

She was denied entry to a club for being too drunk before being put into a taxi and sent back to her shared house, it was heard.

Witness evidence and CCTV showed the student, originally from High Wycombe, didn’t enter the property and instead roamed the streets.

A number of people reported seeing her in a drunk and distressed state, even lying on the pavement, in the minutes before she vanished.

Wright told the court Relowicz was prowling in the area seeking to commit more sexually-motivated offences when he spotted her.

CCTV footage showed the pair arriving at Oak Road Playing Fields, a short distance away, shortly after midnight.

An expert witness told the court Squire would have had a significantly reduced sense of awareness about getting into an unsafe situation because of the effects of cold weather and alcohol.

Due to the length of time between Squire’s disappearance and discovery pathologists were unable to determine a cause of death.

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