Libby Squire 'could have' been strangled but student's cause of death remains unascertained, murder trial hears

Home Office Pathologist Matthew Lyall said the student's cause of death was unknown due to the amount of time her body had been in water, but he also could not rule out asphyxia, hypothermia or drowning.

Giving evidence at the trial of Pawel Relowicz, who is accused of the rape and murder of Miss Squire on February 1, 2019, Dr Lyall said: "A subtle asphyxia death remains a possibility, this could be some kind of smothering or neck pressure or a combination of both.”

Dr Lyall explained that the level of decomposition to the body made the post-mortem examination harder, adding: "There could have been injuries, we just can't see them."

He did however note an area of bruising on Miss Squire's upper arm which he said "could represent gripping, but could also be a bruise".

When cross-examined and asked by Oliver Saxby QC: “The pathological evidence does not establish that she was killed does it?”

Dr Lyall replied: “No.”

The court heard sperm cells detected from samples taken from Miss Squire gave a "full DNA profile which matched the full profile of Pawel Relowicz".

Toxicology results revealed no drugs were present in Miss Squire's system, but her alcohol reading of 198 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood meant she was two-and-a-half times the legal drink drive limit.

Miss Squire, a philosophy student, vanished in the early hours of February 1, 2019, after enjoying a night out with friends in Hull. Her body was found in the Humber six weeks later.The prosecution allege that Relowicz 26, formerly of Raglan Street, Hull, "persuaded or forced" Miss Squire into his car before driving her to Oak Road playing fields, where he raped and murdered her before pushing her into the River Hull.

The trial also heard today from a witness who described hearing screams of "desperation" on the night Miss Squire disappeared.

Sam Alford, whose home overlooks Oak Road playing fields, recalled hearing screams in the early hours of February 1, 2019.

He said he often heard noise from the park as it was a student area with young people gathering there, so he ignored the first screams, but the noise was intermittent and he heard more screaming, but could not see anyone there.

Mr Alford said: "I could tell they were human, I could tell it was a female scream.

"The screams were enough to make me think 'what could that be?'

Richard Wright QC, prosecuting, asked what the screams conveyed to him. Mr Alford replied: "Like, desperation."

He said the screaming went on for an estimated four to seven minutes. After going to the toilet briefly, he looked out of his window, on to a skate park, but could not see anything initially.

Mr Alford said there was a full moon and snow, so the visibility was good, and after a few minutes he saw a man crossing the park.

He told the jury: "There was an urgency about the way he was moving. He was moving with a purpose, he didn't look back once."

Mr Alford said the man was wearing tightly-fitted joggers or jeans and a bomber jacket, and did not look appropriately dressed for the weather that night.

Relowicz, a married father-of-two, denies rape and murder.

The trial continues.