Jury in Libby Squire murder trial retire to consider their verdict as judge explains manslaughter verdict is an option

The jury, consisting of seven women and five men, retired at 2.41pm on Thursday, following the 14 day trial at Sheffield Crown Court.

Miss Squire, 21, vanished after she was turned away from the Welly nightclub in Hull for being too drunk, following a night out with friends in the early hours of February 1, 2019.

Her body was found by a fishing boat in the Humber estuary six weeks later on March 20.

The prosecution alleges the philosophy student was murdered by married father-of-two Pawel Relowicz, who picked her up in Haworth Street, just off Beverley Road in Hull, before driving her to the nearby Oak Road playing fields where he raped her. The prosecution say he then dumped her body in the River Hull, either after killing her in the park or alive, leaving her to drown.

Relowicz, formerly of Raglan Street, Hull, told the jury he did not kill Miss Squire, but said the pair had consensual sex on Oak Road, before he left her alive wandering off towards Beresford Avenue.

Mr Saxby said there was no evidence that Relowicz killed Miss Squire after a post-mortem revealed her cause of death remained unascertained due to her body being in the water for so long.

She said: "There is no count of manslaughter on the indictment, but it can be returned as an alternative verdict to murder.

"That would arise if you were sure Pawel Relowicz assaulted Libby Squire and it caused her death in the sense it made one or more contributions to her death and whether he intended it to.

"If the answer is no, the verdict will be not guilty of murder but you should consider whether that person intended to cause some harm and then if you are sure of that you will return a guilty verdict of manslaughter."

Mrs Justice Lambert also told jurors to "take their time" and "consider the evidence slowly and carefully".

Relowicz denies murder and rape.