Butcher accused of murder 'gives five versions of events on night Libby Squire disappeared'

Richard Wright QC, prosecuting, told the jury that Relowicz, 26, told varying accounts to the police, to his friends, in his defence statement and to the court.

He said the defendant was “telling deliberate lies about what happened” between him and Libby Squire.

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Relowicz, of Raglan Street, Hull, admitted he had not told the truth and said: “Previously I was telling lies.”

He added: “All evidence I give now, this is all true.”

Relowicz also told a jury he is “100% sure” he had not “done anything” to Ms Squire, adding that he was not lying in an attempt to “get away with rape and murder” when he was asked about the different accounts he has given.

Pictured: Libby Squire

Cross-examining the defendant, Richard Wright QC, prosecuting, asked him: “As you drove away from Oak Road, was your thinking, your mind, that you had done nothing wrong to that girl at all?”

Speaking through an interpreter, Relowicz, who worked as a butcher at Karro Foods, in Malton, North Yorkshire, replied: “100% sure that I’ve not done anything to that girl.”

Relowicz said he had lied previously – because he did not want his wife to find out he had cheated on her – but had “no reason to lie” now.

Mr Wright said: “How about trying to get away with raping and murdering Libby Squire, is that not a reason to lie?”

The defendant replied: “This is not true.”

Mr Wright described the five different versions of events given by Relowicz since his arrest on February 6, 2019:

– Version One:

In his interviews, Relowicz told police that he parked in Haworth Street intending to go for a jog but came across Ms Squire, who was drunk and crying, the court has heard.

PICTURED: Libby Squire

After driving Ms Squire to Oak Road, he turned his car around and threw her out after she made a noise like she was going to be sick, the jury was told.

Mr Wright told the court the defendant said Ms Squire got out of the car and was kneeling on the ground where she had fallen over.

She walked on to the pavement and started to walk normally on Beresford Avenue, he said.

– Version Two:

Mr Wright said the second version was the one Relowicz gave to his friend, Dariusz.

He said he told him that he gave Ms Squire a lift after she flagged him down but he threw her out of his car when she tried to undo his belt.

– Version Three:

Mr Wright said Relowicz told his third version of events to another friend, Rafal.

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The court has heard that the defendant told his friend he offered to help Ms Squire get home and she got into his car.

He told him that she started to remove her knickers so he threw her out of the vehicle, Mr Wright said.

– Version Four:

Relowicz gave his fourth version of events in his defence statement on February 5 2020 and it was read to the jury for the first time on Wednesday, Mr Wright said.

The court heard that, in this document, Relowicz said he offered Ms Squire a lift after finding her drunk and upset and, during the journey, she “removed her knickers and gently threw them at the accused”.

Relowicz said they ended up having sex – “entirely at her instigation and entirely consensual” – after he parked and helped her when she fell over, the court heard.

Libby with her mum

The jury was told that he said she shouted at him to come back when he got back into his car and, as he drove away, he saw her picking up her knickers from the ground and walking off.

– Version Five:

Mr Wright said the fifth version of events is the one given by Relowicz to the jury in court.

The jury has heard that Relowicz parked in Haworth Street with the intention of looking through people’s windows and masturbating but saw Ms Squire “crying and shouting” on the pavement and offered her a lift home.

He has said he stopped the car at Oak Road when he thought she was going to be sick and she got out of the vehicle and fell over.

He told the court she asked him for a hug and they hugged and began kissing before she laid down on the ground behind his car and they had sex.

Afterwards, she tried to kiss him again and scratched his face when he turned away, the jury has heard.

He said he drove away and last saw her behind his car, shouting at him not to leave her.

The prosecution has said Relowicz picked up Ms Squire, drove her to Oak Road playing fields, raped her and put her into the River Hull.

Relowicz denies raping and murdering Ms Squire, whose body was found in the Humber estuary around seven weeks after she disappeared.

The trial was adjourned until Friday.