Skip to content
Libby Squire’s mum blasts police’s lack of action to crack down on flashers
Libby Squire, who was raped and murdered by serial sex offender Pawel Relowicz, would still be alive today had the offender been stopped earlier, her mother Lisa said
The grieving mum of murdered student Libby Squire has slammed “horrifying” figures that show the vast majority of flashers and peeping Toms never face charges.
University undergraduate Libby, 21, was raped and murdered by serial sex offender Pawel Relowicz on a night out with pals.
The sick killer had a string of previous convictions for spying on women, indecent exposure and performing sex acts in public.
Libby’s mum Lisa Squire believes her daughter might still be alive today if Relowicz had been stopped earlier.
Now she has made a desperate plea for a tougher line on catching and prosecuting “non-contact” sex offenders, amid evidence that they often go on to become rapists or murderers.
The new figures, which we uncovered through Freedom of Information requests, show only 10% of non-contact sex crimes reported to London’s Metropolitan Police between 2021 and 2022 led to charges.
Lisa, 52, of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, said: “Your findings are horrifying and prove that the majority of people still view these offences as harmless.
“So many crimes are now taken more seriously and we’ve progressed in other areas – but with non-contact offences nothing has changed.”
The shocking statistic emerged despite growing pressure on police to tackle low-level sex offences after Metropolitan Police firearms officer Wayne Couzens flashed a woman days before snatching Sarah Everard in March 2021.
Philosophy student Libby was murdered by Relowicz, then 26, in Hull, East Yorkshire, in 2019.
Lisa said: “He’d been committing these offences for 18 months before he killed Libby. I wish more could have been done to stop him. He has a serious sexual problem and needed help.”
The maternity nurse said not every non-contact sexual offender would become a rapist, adding: “But every rapist was a non-contact sexual offender at one point – so we need to take them for the red flags that they are.”
Lisa is campaigning to raise awareness of the importance of reporting low-level sex offences.
She said: “I think a lot of women still don’t know they can do anything about it. We need to make reporting easier, but also to empower young men and women to know that their reports will be taken seriously.”
Her warning comes after Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley pledged to crack down on non-physical sex attacks following the murder of Sarah Everard.
He said: “We’ve stepped up our approach to indecent exposure because there is clear evidence that some of these offences haven’t been taken seriously enough.”
A force spokesman added: “We are committed to providing the best possible service to victims of indecent exposure.
“These crimes are incredibly distressing and deeply impacting.”
A spokesman for Humberside Police, which is working with Lisa to raise awareness, said: “We urge the public to report all non-contact sexual offences.”
