A butcher accused of raping and murdering High Wycombe student Libby Squire was asked what he found funny and why he was “smirking” by interviewing detectives, a jury has been told.
Sheffield Crown Court heard that after Pawel 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”, and then asked him why he was laughing.
Prosecutor Richard Woolfall told the jury was told that the officer then asked the defendant: “What’s so funny?” and “Why are you smirking?”
Mr Woolfall told the jury that Relowicz replied: “No comment.”
The 26-year-old Polish-born father-of-two, of Raglan Street, Hull, denies raping and murdering 21-year-old Ms Squire in the city.
The Hull University philosophy student went missing in the early hours of February 1 2019, following a night out, and her body was found in the Humber Estuary a number of weeks later.
Also on Friday, a leading expert on hypothermia told the jury that Ms Squire’s decision-making would have been “significantly impaired” in the lead-up to her disappearance due to the cold and the amount of alcohol she had drunk.
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. Jurors have also seen CCTV footage from that night.
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The prosecution alleges that Ms Squire 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, divisional medical director for South Central Ambulance Service and Professor of Resuscitation and Prehospital Emergency Medicine at the University of Southampton, said the air temperature in Hull at 10.20pm on January 31 was minus 2C, rising to 0C by midnight.
The professor said Ms Squire was wearing light clothing with 38 per cent of her skin exposed, including her legs, and may have been wet as she was seen lying in the snow at one point.
He 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.
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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: “I think she is likely to have been quite vulnerable.”
The professor said he believed Ms Squire’s condition would have also impaired her ability to run, if she was trying to avoid danger.
The jury had been told the prosecution is likely to conclude its case later on Friday.
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