Who was Libby Squire? The creative, chatty and funny Hull university student who loved life

Libby Squire was born in High Wycombe on New Year's Day 1998 to her parents Lisa and Russ Squire.

She had three younger siblings who she was very close to, but shared a special bond with her brother Joe, and was also extremely close to her mother.

Mrs Squire said: "I love all of my children dearly but there is no denying we shared a special bond. We were that in sync with each other I would describe us as being as one."

She was very popular at school and made a good set of friends. She always worked hard and was very organised with any homework she was set.

Libby sat her GCSE exams in the summer of 2014 and achieved five A* grades, two A's and a C. She decided to go to college to complete her A-Levels, but due to her mental health she did not do as well as predicted, achieving two D grades and a U.

Despite this, she decided to embark on university, choosing the city of Hull as she liked its surroundings and what the university had to offer.

She had spoken of a possible career in journalism, but opted to study Philosophy. She decided to take a gap year before starting university and travelled to Paris.

Libby started her university course in September 2017, when she was 19, and despite previous mental health struggles which had led to her being referred to CAMHS, her parents and her boyfriend Connor said she was in the "best place" she had ever been and loved her life in Hull.

She enjoyed nights out with friends, but was very much against drugs.

Her mum also described her as a private person, who was not into social media like her friends and therefore would only use her mobile phone to call her mum or her friends.

Mrs Squire also described Libby as "very creative, chatty and funny", stating she had a "wicked sense of humour", but was filled with empathy and also knew how to put people at ease and make everyone feel included.

Libby enjoyed spending time with her friends, going to museums and galleries and also going on family holidays, despite being scared of water.

Mrs Squire recalled: "When on family holidays as a child, she would not go in a swimming pool or near the sea. It was only on one of our last family holidays that she stood in the swimming pool at the edge.

"She was also always scared of the dark and would never take a shortcut home or walk down a street with little light."

Libby lived with three other females in Wellesley Avenue in Hull, an area popular with students due to its close proximity to the university and the city centre.

January 31, 2019, started like any normal day for Libby and her friends. They had returned to university after the Christmas break and were looking forward to a night out at the Welly club in Beverley Road.

After getting ready with her housemates at around 7.30pm that night, the girls ventured to another friend's house in Cromer Street for some pre-drinks.

Libby drank a full bottle of her favourite Rose wine and a vodka and coke.

Friends described her mood that evening as "really funny, laughing and generally enjoying herself".

The group then walked to the Welly club at around 11pm, and friends said the fresh air "seemed to really hit" Libby and she was swaying as she walked.

It was at the club, Libby was refused entry for being drunk. She wasn't angry about this and told friends she would walk home. Due the freezing temperatures, snow on the ground and the fact it was late, Libby's friends put her in a taxi and paid the £10 fare for her.

The taxi driver dropped Libby off outside her home in Wellesley Avenue, but she never made it to the front door and decided to walk on, before falling over in front of a group of male students.

They asked if she was OK, to which she signalled she was and she carried on walking.

She made it to the corner of Wellesley Avenue and outside a house whose occupant said she heard a female crying and sobbing outside.

The woman took Libby into the hallway and tried to see if she needed help, describing her as "disorientated but with no visible injuries".

The woman tried to find out where Libby died but she asked to go and left the house around 11.30pm.

Her keys, on a pink fluffy keyring were found in the garden of the house.

CCTV footage then captures Libby walking up Beverley Road where she was spotted by a number of witnesses, all of whom offered to help her, but to which she refused.

The last sighting of her alive was taken just after midnight as she got into the front passenger seat of a silver Vauxhall Astra owned by Polish butcher Pawel Relowicz.

The silver Astra was then spotted on CCTV just after midnight on February 1 making its way from Haworth Street, onto Beverley Road, Beresford Avenue and then to Oak Road playing fields.

Footage showed Libby and Relowicz leaving the car, but Relowicz returning at 12.19am.

Libby was not seen alive again.

Her friends told of their desperate search for her looking in all nearby streets and even going to her favourite takeaway, but no-one had seen her and it was around 2.30am the police were called.

Mrs Squire recalled: "I spoke to her every day by call or text but didn't have contact with her on January 31, as I had been on a night shift.

"She had sent her a photo of herself that afternoon. I knew she was going out that evening to the Welly. I was working another night shift.

"I knew something wasn’t right and told her friend to call the taxi company, they had been to her favourite taxi companies and they had contacted the police.

"We made the decision not to panic and go straight to Hull as she could have gone to another friend’s house.

"I knew she had a lecture that day and would never miss a lecture so if she didn’t go to that something would be seriously wrong.

"We travelled to Hull and knew something serious had happened. It was not in her character and she was not answering her texts or calls.

"She was planning her future and was in the best place in her life she had ever been."

Libby's body was pulled from the Humber on March 20, 2019, after being carried down the River Hull which passes the Oak Road playing fields.

A Home Office pathologist said it was not possible to know how Libby had died, although he did not rule out asphyxiation.

A forensic scientist said an internal swab taken from Libby's body had a DNA profile matching that of Relowicz.

Relowicz was charged with the rape and murder of Libby in October 24, 2019.

He pleaded not guilty to both offences and his trial began at Sheffield Crown Court on January 12, 2020.

Today, after 27 hours and 55 minutes of deliberations, the jury found Relowicz guilty of the rape and murder of Libby.