Butcher arrested over Libby Squire disappearance
THE butcher held over the disappearance of Libby Squire just stopped to help the crying student at the side of the road, his sister has claimed.
Meat factory worker Pawel Relowicz, 24, was arrested at the home he shares with his wife in Hull – half a mile from where Libby vanished.
The Polish dad-of-two's sister claims he offered to give Libby a lift home when he spotted her in a distressed state just after midnight on February 1.
Paulina Szymanska told The Telegraph: "I don't believe my brother could do it. We were raised to be good people.
“He was driving and he stopped because he noticed a girl crying.
"She asked him to take her home, so he put her address into his sat nav and wanted to do just that.
“Apparently she threw herself at him, but he pushed her away because he is a married man."
Sources said police acted after receiving information that led them to believe Libby may have been abducted on a street near her home.
Officers insisted they were still treating her disappearance as a missing persons inquiry.
Libby, 21, was last seen less than a mile away, eight days ago.
Officers arrested Relowicz, 24, after swooping on the property at 9pm on Wednesday.
His home was sealed off and a silver Vauxhall Astra — believed to belong to him — had been towed away.
Forensics experts spent all day at the rented two-bed terraced home in Hull, East Yorks.
Evidence bags were removed by plain-clothes detectives.
Dad-of-two Relowicz lives with wife Jagoda less than a mile from where Libby was last seen over a week ago.
Local residents said a police helicopter had been hovering above the street for hours in the afternoon before cops descended on Relowicz’s home.
The gym enthusiast and martial arts fan, works alongside 14 other people on his production line at a meat processing factory.
He is one of around 40 Polish workers in the 150-strong department.
Colleague Tadeusz Skibicki, 39, said: “When I heard the news it was a big shock.
“Pawel is a quiet, normal person. He has never been violent.”
Relowicz has worked at Karro Food Group’s headquarters in Malton, North Yorks, for around five years, according to the pal.
Jagoda, also works there — although she has been on maternity leave after giving birth to their second child in October.
A fellow worker said: “There are several butchery departments there and each one has 150 butchers.
“The carcass gets cut into legs, middle and shoulders and they go to separate areas to be taken apart to produce bacon or ham or whatever you might buy in a supermarket.”
Members of Relowicz’s family in Poland told The Sun of their shock at news of his arrest. His sister Paulina Szymanska, 28, said: “I can’t believe it and I hope it’s a bad dream.
I can’t believe it and I hope it’s a bad dream.
“We come from big, poor, but wonderful family. Our parents raised us to be good, hard-working people.
“He could never do such a thing. I really hope police will find this poor girl and that it’s a big misunderstanding.”
Relowicz, from Chełmzaż near Torunń in northern Poland, married Jagoda last June.
He is one of eight kids. Four of them still live at home.
His mum Marzena said of Pawel: “He was a good, quiet guy, helping around the house. He never caused any trouble.”
Rełowicz is active on social media. His Facebook posts with his wife and children repeatedly stress there is nothing more important in life than family.
Below a photo of his new baby boy, he writes: “My son and wife bring me the greatest happiness, I don’t need anyone else in life.”
His Facebook page wall is filled with crowd-funding pleas for donations to help kids with fatal conditions.
A family source told The Sun: “He was always quiet and never really had any male friends — but there were always women in his life. He is the kind of man that will do anything for his woman and would never betray or hurt her.”
SUSPECT'S CAR TOWED AWAY
The family source said Relowicz moved to the UK when he was 19 to join his sister “who was working at the butcher”.
Friend and hairdresser Iwona Reczulska said: “I last saw Pawel about two weeks ago.
“He was his normal self and was chatting about his kids as he usually did.”
Libby, a philosophy and religion student at the University of Hull vanished on Thursday of last week.
She had been turned away from The Welly Club in the city for being too drunk.
Pals put her in a taxi and Libby was dropped off at her front door.
She was seen staggering around and falling over.
The last confirmed sighting was CCTV footage of her on a park bench at 11.45pm.
A neighbour told police she heard a woman’s “blood-curdling” screams. Cops can hold Relowicz for up to 24 hours but can apply to magistrates to extend it to up to 96 hours.
Libby’s parents, Lisa, 48, and Russ, 53, are being kept informed.
Karro Food Group said: “This is an active police investigation and as such it would be inappropriate to comment.”
