A butcher ‘laughed and smirked’ during a police interview when he was quizzed over the rape and murder of student Libby Squire, a jury has been told.
Pawel Relowicz is accused of ‘stalking’ the disoriented student after finding her wandering ‘drunk and possibly suffering from hypothermia’ before picking her up in his car and raping her.
The 26-year-old is also accused of then dumping her ‘dead or dying’ into a river.
Sheffield Crown Court also heard that it was likely Ms Squire was too cold to run away from danger as her judgment could have been ‘impaired’ by alcohol before she vanished in Hull, East Yorks.
After Relowicz was arrested on suspicion of killing Ms Squire, he made a brief statement denying any involvement before refusing to answer questions from police.
At the beginning of a one interview, in August 2019, an officer put it to Relowicz that ‘the only reason she is dead is because you killed her’.
Prosecutor Richard Woolfall told the jury that the officer then asked the laughing defendant: ‘What’s so funny?’ and ‘Why are you smirking?’
Sheffield Crown Court heard Pawel Relowicz, 26 (right) ‘smirked and laughed’ during a police interview when he was quizzed over the rape and murder of student Libby Squire (left)
The 26-year-old Polish-born father-of-two, of Raglan Street, Hull, denies raping and murdering 21-year-old Ms Squire. But the court heard today he earlier pleaded guilty at Sheffield Crown Court to charges of voyeurism and outraging public decency concerning three other unrelated victims, jurors were told
Mr Woolfall said Relowicz replied: ‘No comment.’
The court heard Relowicz previously pleaded guilty to voyeurism charges after he spied on students in Hull having sex and broke into houses to steal sex toys.
One victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was having sex with her boyfriend when she realised Relowicz had stuck his head through a bay window to watch.
The victim said that when her housemate returned home, they discovered a used condom on the door handle and a pair of black, lacey knickers in the letterbox.
The court heard that a second victim had discovered a used condom next to her son’s toy and that money had been stolen from her house.
A third victim reported that three sex toys had been stolen from her bedroom and discovered semen on her window on two different occasions.
The court heard that Relowicz initially denied the accusations when put to him by police and dismissed them as ‘silly’.
Hull University philosophy student Libby Squire (left) went missing in the early hours of February 1 2019, following a night out in the city. Pictured right, on her 21st birthday
Sheffield Crown Court heard on Friday from a leading expert on hypothermia who told the jury that Ms Squire’s decision-making would have been ‘significantly impaired’ in the lead-up to her disappearance. Pictured: Family handout
But he later pleaded guilty at Sheffield Crown Court to charges of voyeurism and outraging public decency, jurors were told.
However, the 26-year-old Polish-born father-of-two, of Raglan Street, Hull, denies raping and murdering 21-year-old Ms Squire.
The Hull University philosophy student went missing in the early hours of February 1 2019, following a night out in the city.
Her body was found in the Humber Estuary a number of weeks later.
Sheffield Crown Court heard on Friday from a leading expert on hypothermia who told the jury that Ms Squire’s decision-making would have been ‘significantly impaired’ in the lead-up to her disappearance.
The expert said this was due to the cold and the amount of alcohol she had drunk – all of which would have made her ‘vulnerable’.
Ms Squire had been refused entry to a nightclub and got a taxi back to her street, but, instead of going home, she wandered to nearby Beverley Road, the jury has heard.
Professor Deakin told the court that Libby had displayed impaired judgement on the night she went missing as she was seen wandering the streets and had laid down in the snow.
The prosecution alleges that Ms Squire then got into Relowicz’s car and was then driven to nearby playing fields.
Professor Charles Deakin, who is a consultant in cardiac anaesthesia and intensive care at University Hospital Southampton, said the air temperature in Hull at 10.20pm on January 31 was minus 2C, rising to 0C by midnight.
The professor – divisional medical director for South Central Ambulance Service and Professor of Resuscitation and Prehospital Emergency Medicine at the University of Southampton – said Ms Squire was wearing light clothing with 38% of her skin exposed, including her legs.
She may also have been wet after lying in the snow, leading her core body temperature that night to be ‘approaching, but not yet’ 35C.
He explained to jurors that the normal body temperature is 37C and concluded that this would have left her with some of the early symptoms of hypothermia, including some degree of confusion and poor judgment.
The professor told the jury via a videolink: ‘She would have been shivering quite significantly, suffering from numb hands and fingers, her coordination would likely have been impaired to some extent, not only from the cold but also from the alcohol.’
Prof Deakin said Ms Squire is likely to have been unsteady on her feet and to have felt tired.
Relowicz denied murder and rape at Sheffield Crown Court (pictured). The jury had been told the prosecution is likely to conclude its case on Friday
He said: ‘I think it’s very likely that the temperature alone, but also the alcohol, would have contributed to poor judgment and some sort of confusion.’
Asked about the effects of the cold and the alcohol, Prof Deakin said: ‘The two combined, I have little doubt, would have significantly impaired (Libby’s) decision-making.’
He said: ‘She would have been very vulnerable to a number of threats.
‘She would have been vulnerable to threats from other individuals, people who may approach her, as she would have been unable to determine their intent.
‘She would have significantly reduced sense of awareness about getting into an unsafe situation.’
The professor said he believed Ms Squire’s condition would have also impaired her ability to run, if she was trying to avoid danger.
He said: ‘She would have limited ability to physically defend herself and she is likely to be so cold and with her poor coordination, she is likely to be unable to run away at any speed if she needed to get away from any danger.’
Relowicz denies murder and rape.
The jury had been told the prosecution is likely to conclude its case on Friday.
CCTV timeline of the night Libby Squire disappeared
Around 11.20pm on January 31 – Ms Squire and her friends are seen arriving at The Welly nightclub on Beverley Road.
11.21pm – footage from inside the entrance to The Welly shows Ms Squire standing to one side speaking to her friends after being refused entry.
11.26pm – Ms Squire’s friends are seen walking into The Welly and a taxi, containing Ms Squire, is seen setting off behind them.
11.26pm to 11.52pm – Relowicz drives his silver Vauxhall Astra from Cranbrook Avenue to Haworth Street – with a 20-minute stop in Alexandra Road.
Richard Wright QC, prosecuting, said: ‘The journey from Cranbrook Avenue to Haworth Street is not an unbroken journey in time. There’s a period of time when the vehicle stops again in Alexandra Road.’
11.29pm – CCTV footage shows Ms Squire’s taxi turning from Beverley Road on to Wellesley Avenue, where she lived with three other students, the court heard.
The prosecution say Relowicz then ‘stalked’ Ms Squire from the opposite side of the street before ‘darting’ over to intercept her
11.34pm – Mr Grandidge showed footage of Ms Squire at the door of a house on Wellesley Avenue, near its junction with Beverley Road.
The jury has heard that Ms Squire went into this house after one of its residents heard her crying outside.
11.36pm – Ms Squire is seen leaving the house and walking on to Beverley Road. She crosses the road and continues towards the junction with Haworth Street.
11.39pm – Ms Squire is seen falling to the ground.
Dashcam footage captured by a passing motorist shows Ms Squire on the pavement, ‘very close’ to the kerb.
11.40pm – footage shows a silver Citroen Picasso, containing Roland Jacobs and Alan Jones, stopping and Mr Jacobs getting out and walking to Ms Squire. He is seen helping her up off the ground before sitting her on a wall.
11.49pm – Mr Jacobs and Mr Jones drive away in the Citroen. The jury has heard that Mr Jacobs could not understand Ms Squire, who started to swear at him, and they left after trying to help for just short of 10 minutes.
11.52pm – another passer-by, Lorna Allen, is seen approaching Ms Squire.
11.57pm – Relowicz is seen getting out of his car on Haworth Street and walking on to Beverley Road past Ms Squire, crossing the road, and going out of sight into Beresford Avenue.
11.59pm – Ms Squire is seen walking down Beverley Road. Mr Wright described her as ‘moving from side to side on the pavement’ and Mr Grandidge told the jury she ‘stumbled’ on to the road at one point.
Thirty seconds later, Relowicz leaves Beresford Avenue and walks in the same direction on the opposite side of the road. After around half a minute, he crosses the road and ‘intercepts’ Ms Squire. They both disappear into the grounds of a former nunnery.
12.01am February 1 – Mr Wright told the jury that Ms Squire and Relowicz are seen emerging from the grounds after 58 seconds and walking back up Beverley Road.
12.02am – one minute and nine seconds later, they reach the entrance to Haworth Street.
12.03am – Relowicz returns to his car and is seen sitting in the driver’s seat with his feet outside the vehicle.
12.06am – a Renault Scenic, which has been parked in Haworth Street, leaves and Relowicz is seen standing up and walking towards Beverley Road.
The jury was shown enhanced footage from a camera on Haworth Street showing two figures walking across the end of the street before appearing to stand together and then moving towards Relowicz’s car.
Footage from another camera showed Ms Squire’s leg stepping into the passenger side of the car before she enters and sits down. Relowicz is then seen coming to the driver’s side and getting into the car.
12.08am – the vehicle leaves Haworth Street and is seen on CCTV footage travelling to Oak Road playing fields.