UK - Libby Squire, 21, last seen outside Welly club, Hull, 31 Jan 2019 #23

[jamjim]

Horrible isn't it? Reminds me of when Grace Millane's killer was on trial. JMO

Exactly the case I've been thinking of too.

 

[HullGirl72]

Totally agree with you about the screaming which does suggest more than mere inebriation. However I think defence's heavy emphasis on Libby's mental fragility could backfire .The crucial bit they - naturally - keep skimming over, is that this suicidal girl who desired nothing more than to throw herself into a river that night, didn't make her own way there. She just sat freezing at a bus stop on a main road, until PR showed up, drove her straight to a quiet spot and raped her.

If someone is mentally ill to the point where they are screaming in the street, then you choose to rape that person and as a consequence they fling themselves in a river and drown themselves like Ophelia in Hamlet, I'd believe you played a pretty major role in their death.

(I like that phrase, 'defence nonsense', @mrjitty! Another brand seems to be, 'Sure, OK, my client probably raped her but how was he meant to know she was crazy and suicidal?")

Exactly this!
They’re trying to imply she was suicidal, but she hadn’t made her own way to the river or anywhere else to harm herself.
So he raped her then she went to the river because of the rape because it tipped her over the suicidal edge?
So then he’s to blame.
You can’t have it both ways Saxby

 

[mrjitty]

Exactly the case I've been thinking of too.

Me too

It's grotesque

There is no evidence she was suicidal. Unless of course, it arose because she had just been raped by the accused ....

 

[Newthoughts]

A cry for help is a subconscious need for attention or help, meaning you expect to be found or discovered in order to receive that help.
I can't see how jumping in a river in the dark, away from people, would be a 'cry for help' however he try's to explain it.

No. And why choose that difficult to access river when you've got a massive pond in that park?

This is making me feel sick.

 

[mrjitty]

Exactly this!
They’re trying to imply she was suicidal, but she hadn’t made her own way to the river or anywhere else to harm herself.
So he raped her then she went to the river because of the rape?
You can’t have it both ways Saxby

This is the logical difficulty with the defence case.

Well maybe my client lied and did rape her, maybe he even murdered her, but we can't be sure ....

 

[bos]

Sending strength to the Squires and libbys partner. This must be incredibly hard to hear.

Also her friends/housemates - the whole “feeling abandoned by her friends that night” is bound reactivate guilt even though we have no way of knowing that’s what Libby felt.

 

[NorthernSoul]

Me too

It's grotesque

There is no evidence she was suicidal. Unless of course, it arose because she had just been raped by the accused ....

Agree. The defence has put forward the case that PR has been prowling around for years and never physically touched anyone. But the very sad fact is that it is because Libby was so vulnerable that he was able to take advantage of this. It is very, very sad.

 

[Newthoughts]

Exactly this!
They’re trying to imply she was suicidal, but she hadn’t made her own way to the river or anywhere else to harm herself.
So he raped her then she went to the river because of the rape because it tipped her over the suicidal edge?
So then he’s to blame.
You can’t have it both ways Saxby

Indeed - let me just think where she was before PR picked her up? Was it a main road? With cars and buses driving past? Yet not once does she attempt to step into the road.

 

[DanCJ]

They are happy to accept/downplay PR's lies, changing of the story, his betrayal of his wife, his offences but in the next breath are happy to bull up someone's struggles who cannot defend themselves. I know that is what they have to do to protect their client, but I dont think its a fair balance.

 

[HullGirl72]

Totally agree with you about the screaming which does suggest more than mere inebriation. However I think defence's heavy emphasis on Libby's mental fragility could backfire .The crucial bit they - naturally - keep skimming over, is that this suicidal girl who desired nothing more than to throw herself into a river that night, didn't make her own way there. She just sat freezing at a bus stop on a main road, until PR showed up, drove her straight to a quiet spot and raped her.

If someone is mentally ill to the point where they are screaming in the street, then you choose to rape that person and as a consequence they fling themselves in a river and drown themselves like Ophelia in Hamlet, I'd believe you played a pretty major role in their death.

(I like that phrase, 'defence nonsense', @mrjitty! Another brand seems to be, 'Sure, OK, my client probably raped her but how was he meant to know she was crazy and suicidal?")

Exactly this!
They’re trying to imply she was suicidal, but she hadn’t made her own way to the river or anywhere else to harm herself.
So he raped her then she went to the river because of the rape?
You can’t have it both ways Saxby

Indeed - let me just think where she was before PR picked her up? Was it a main road? With cars and buses driving past? Yet not once does she attempt to step into the road.

It’s not my clients fault he chose a woman who was suicidal in the past, then she threw herself in the river because of him.
He was trying to help.

 

[astheworldfallsdown]

Teenage angst and a couple of falling outs among students, not that uncommon in young adults. IMO The defence are clutching at straws and making themselves look very bad while doing so. JMO

 

[Jarvis1969]

Poor Libby, my heart breaks for her & her family. I know that the defence are only doing their job but Im disgusted

 

[tedtink]

If she was so suicidal and/or depressed, sex would have been the last thing on her mind, considering loss of libido and reduced sex drive are common symptoms of depression.
Let alone going out to party!
JMO

 

[HongKongPhooey]

I hope the jury are as outraged and disgusted as many of us here are

JMO

 

[jamjim]

12:18
Trial resumes

Mr Saxby says: “The prosecution theory that ‘it wasn’t a great surprise to her friends that doorstaff refused her entry and she told them she would walk home.’ Let’s look at the evidence.

“She was picked up by the taxi - not abandoned by her friends. 40 minutes before she arrives at Oak Road playing fields she arrives at Wellesley Avenue. During the journey she was angry at not being let in, not being with friends - amplified by alcohol.

“At the house she was taken into on Wellesley Avenue she was drunk and upset and according to the people there she was saying her friends had left her and her best friend was leaving the next day. They hadn’t but that was how she felt and that is what she was saying. She went to Beverley Road - in the wrong direction - even though she was in a well-lit area and an area she must have known like the back of her hand.

“She told Beth Green she was trying to get home. She told her she was going in the wrong direction but Libby Squire because she didn’t care, or did and was confused. We know in drink she could be impulsive."

Libby Squire murder trial live: Defence gives closing statement

 

[mrjitty]

This is where I feel the law is a bit of an

We know he abducted her from a safe place, took her to a remote place, and raped her. Then by coincidence she died. He is responsible for that, one way or the other.

But instead, the defence claim Libby was responsible.

 

[Skigh]

She was obviously fighting for her life during the rape,why on earth would she then decide to make her way through a cold ,dark park to end her life in the river?

 

[astheworldfallsdown]

I hope the jury are as outraged and disgusted as many of us here are

JMO

They have to be. Victim blaming at it's finest. JMO

 

[Newthoughts]

Teenage angst and a couple of falling outs among students, not that uncommon in young adults. IMO The defence are clutching at straws and making themselves look very bad while doing so. JMO

I've taught for years. There are a hell of a lot of Libby's that struggle with adolescence and then go off and thrive at uni. The mental health services had signed her off! Upsets with housemates don't make people suicidal. Suicidal people don't go to parties and out to clubs

 

[Vera_dci]

This is the reason many victims of sexual assaults don't report it. Can you imagine having your private life and struggles used against you.