Libby Squire: Mother of murdered student calls for PM meeting

The mother of a murdered student is pressing for a meeting with the prime minister to call for a change in the law on "low-level" sexual crime.

Lisa Squire wants tougher measures for men convicted of non-contact sexual offences, such as upskirting and voyeurism.

Her daughter Libby, 21, was raped and murdered in 2019 by a man with a history of spying on female students.

Downing Street has been approached for comment.

Mrs Squire, from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, said: "I don't want things to be dangerous for future generations."

Speaking to BBC Three Counties Radio, she said she wanted offenders to receive therapy immediately, and wear a tag for five years.

She said Boris Johnson had agreed to meet her to discuss the plan but a date had not yet been set.

"I'm absolutely convinced that if a high-profile person or a member of the cabinet saw their child raped and murdered, the law would change overnight," she said.

"People think the whole non-contact sexual offence area is just a bit of voyeurism, only a bit of exposure, no-one gets hurt - but women do get hurt. They're intimidated and it's very unsettling."

Miss Squire was studying at the University of Hull when, on a night out, she was raped and murdered by Pawel Relowicz.

Her body was found in the Humber Estuary, weeks after she disappeared.

Relowicz, 26, a father of two, had "cruised the streets" in the student area of the city before the killing and had a history of committing indecent acts in the street.

He was jailed for 27 years in February.

Anna Birley, who co-founded the Reclaim These Streets campaign after the murder of Sarah Everard, said it was important to "spot the signs early" to prevent offenders "doing the worst imaginable".

"Rape and murder don't come from nowhere," she said.

"What we have at the moment is a system that writes off deeply misogynistic crimes; things that are motivated by a wish to control women and intimidate, which are written off as low-level.

"In Libby's tragic case and in Sarah's, it's not the first time they've committed a sexual offence or targeted women. These crimes aren't taken seriously."

Mrs Squire said a change in the law would help Libby's story save lives.

"Maybe women who have been victims of non-contact sexual offences will actually get some justice for what happened to them," she said.

"That means a lot."

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