Found Deceased UK - Libby Squire, 21, last seen getting into taxi outside Welly club, Hull, 31 Jan 2019 #2 *ARREST*

[sar2them1984]

I'd say no to the first question and if you're a woman, no to the second.

I always remember my friends dad who was a police officer telling me that the safest place to sit in a taxi if I was on my own was behind the passenger seat

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Question: Is it customary in the UK for a taxi driver to open the car door for you, and for a fare to sit in the front passenger seat?

No and no

 

[MancGuy Uk]

My point exactly. So where did she ask to go? Home is out because she can't get in and its only a block to walk anyway.

It was cold that night and her options at that point were thin, and you do not want to stay out in the cold in January that’s for sure so at a certain point she must have planned to go back to the bar she was refused entry and get the keys of her friends it’s her only option maybe did she have her purse on her? to pay taxi if not she would probably have got a friend to pay it the fair again at the bar that’s if she manage to sober up a little with no phone and no key her luck was certainly against her that night

 

[PaddyOreally?]

Is it a fact that this is the suspect on video?

I don’t see a second person...jmo
Seems way too quick, whatever he puts in car

Keep watching and you can see the legs going in

 

[Kolumbo]

But she was only a block or so away from her home- why get in and pay a cab?

Who said she paid?

We know she left her mobile at home so she can't get in touch with anyone. Presumably her house was empty with nobody else home. We suspect she was locked out of the house. Maybe she lost her keys or maybe she left them deliberately, expecting to return with a housemate who would let them both in. That would seem to be a reasonable explanation for her crying. She didn't know what to do and was trapped in the cold but wary of accepting any help from people she didn't instinctively trust.

Maybe he has had a short conversation with her, perhaps more than once which would explain the to-ing and fro-ing from the car to the street corner where she was sat. He had come to understand her predicament, warned her of the dangers of sitting alone in a bench on a cold night, and offered either to return her to Welly club in search of a friend, drop her at a mate's house, see if he can help her get into her own house somehow, or else just drive or loiter about someplace, pass some time off until a housemate got back home.

 

[whitelilac]

I've taken taxis in London, and never had a driver open the door for me, nor did I ever sit in the front passenger seat.
However I wondered whether it may be different in a small town. Is it possible that Libby has had a ride with this guy before, and they recognized each other?

 

[MancGuy Uk]

It was cold that night and her options at that point were thin, and you do not want to stay out in the cold in January that’s for sure so at a certain point she must have planned to go back to the bar she was refused entry and get the keys of her friends it’s her only option with no phone her luck seem to be against her that night and did she have her purse on her? to pay taxi if not she would probably have got a friend to pay it the fair again at the bar that’s if she manage to sober up a little

 

[Officer Dibble]

But she was only a block or so away from her home- why get in and pay a cab?

She fell in the river, screamed. He panicked. Thought about helping. Followed her down the river a bit or looked for her from the bank, then ran away panicking in a 'omg she is probably going to drown' way?

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Is it a fact that this is the suspect on video?

I don’t see a second person...jmo
Seems way too quick, whatever he puts in car

Yes because it's speeded up. Shame they did that. Anyone got the technology to slow it down to real time?

Here is is again

ITV News exclusive: CCTV captures car activity minutes before student Libby Squire was last seen in Hull

 

[Officer Dibble]

Wow. That really does help. Before looking at your GIF, I was certain it was a woman willingly getting into the car, one leg first, then the other, but now I've looked at the GIF, I can see the driver first throws something (a handbag?) into the footwell of the passenger seat with one hand and then after a slight delay, the passenger appears to be thrown onto the passenger seat having been possibly leant against the car and supported by his other arm. The way she bounces as she lands on the seat is consistent with being more or less carried under both legs, then plonked onto the seat.
I also want to say, I don't think women generally just chuck their handbag into a car's footwell before getting into it, nor do they tend to get into the front passenger seat of a taxi (or fake taxi, if that was the case).

I can't see all of that but now I see a dark thing like a coat being put in to cover something that is lying down. I'm bamboozled now...the mind boggles

 

[mrjitty]

I've taken taxis in London, and never had a driver open the door for me, nor did I ever sit in the front passenger seat.
However I wondered whether it may be different in a small town. Is it possible that Libby has had a ride with this guy before, and they recognized each other?

Agree with black cabs.

The service levels are completely different between black cabs, uber, Addison Lee etc

 

[Get off my Lawn!]

I just found this on youtube:

... really interesting. It's about illegal minicab drivers parking around high-client areas and touting for fares. Although it's based in London, we have heard on this case that it's a practice reported in Hull. Closing time at nearby pub...perfect time to tout for fares and smoke a cigarette while you wait...
The other car shown in the ITV clip may have been another minicab driver that had just collected a fare...

Or a local resident?

 

[Blamhappy]

I've taken taxis in London, and never had a driver open the door for me, nor did I ever sit in the front passenger seat.
However I wondered whether it may be different in a small town. Is it possible that Libby has had a ride with this guy before, and they recognized each other?

I didn't even think of that. If he was a fake cab, she and her friends might have used him before.

 

[gc105]

Hi there, new here have kept up with a few threads over the last year or so but never posted!

I honestly don't know what to think of all this...I can't help but think that if he isn't personally responsible for Libbys disappearance, then he is at least involved in some capacity (JMO!)

There was a report from the night of Libbys disappearance of a woman being chased along Newland Avenue by a man in a balaclava, and a 'taxi' swerved in front of her - turns out it wasn't a real taxi but she managed to get away. Now with the mother of the man in for questioning coming out and saying she wasn't aware he was a part-time taxi driver...? Maybe I am just putting 2 and 2 together, but seems strangely coincidental... could this possibly be the same car involved in the earlier incident on Newland Avenue, and there could therefore also another person involved? Could of course just be a very eerie coincidence!

I do think for the car in the CCTV to be parked just metres away from the bench at which Libby was last sighted and then to leave at the time at the end of the police timeframe is very telling. Why would somebody sit in their car (with door open) for a few minutes having a cigarette/on their phone, then wander away only to reappear a couple minutes later on one of the coldest nights of the year?

Anyway sorry for my ramblings, just thinking out loud really.

 

[suzyjackson]

IMHO Libby did not have anything with her that would need to be thrown into the passenger seat of footwell of a car, as we know she didn't have keys or a phone imo it's probable that any money she had or had had earlier in the evening was in a pocket or small purse in a pocket.

I'm not convinced the person/object going into the passenger seat is her. I dont have another theory yet so interested to hear what everyone else thinks

 

[Miss_French]

I think some of you are going off track a little with regards to his behaviour.

Here's my train of thought...

His own mother seems to suspect he may have been moonlighting as an unlicensed taxi diver - an offence.

The side street he was parked up in is one of the few spots in that part of Beverley Road you'd be able to pull into. He was smoking a *advertiser censored* and hoping for some passing custom from the pubgoers. Haworth Arms is literally just a few yards around the corner, and there are other pubs like Gardener's Arms in the vicinity too. A lot of students in particular would be looking for a taxi to get home to their student digs on a night out.

It's pretty much a dead cert to me that he was touting for business. He'd probably been sat there innocently enough until he saw or heard Libby crying on the bench just a few yards round the corner. He smoked his *advertiser censored* and went to investigate. It is probably her we see getting into the passenger side. He assists by opening the door and guiding them in, but they're clearly not unconscious. They slip in easily enough, with a bit of a bump, and you can see them bounce slightly as they hit the seat.

The question is how he convinced her to follow him to the car. Maybe he played the whole "See, that other guy who pulled over could've been a monster, you really can't stay here. Let me take you somewhere safe."

I am betting on it not being premeditated in any way prior to him spotting her. It was just opportunism. He was angling for business in a convenient place. He stumbled into her and could see she was in a pretty sorry state. Maybe he just planned on helping. Maybe not. Perhaps even at the point in the footage we see her getting into the car, he still had no ill intent. The question really seems to be what happened between the point of him picking her up and her going missing. Did she have second thoughts? Did he try it on? Did she? Did he say something that creeped her out? Where did he take her? Why? Is that the point at which she realised something was wrong? Did they return to her address or head straight somewhere else?

Based on the CCTV footage here it's pretty clear to me the series of events that led up to her being picked up. It's what comes afterwards that remains a total mystery.

The mother said she wasn't aware her son worked as a part-time taxi driver. It wasn't in quotes in the news report and seems an odd piece of information to randomly volunteer; it seems more like an answer to a question asked by a reporter and paraphrased by the media.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

She fell in the river, screamed. He panicked. Thought about helping. Followed her down the river a bit or looked for her from the bank, then ran away panicking in a 'omg she is probably going to drown' way?

But why on earth would they be anywhere near the river? Or the pond or even the park?

I can't be convinced he killed her until she's found. But I am fairly sure he did something to cause her to scream in terror for 15 minutes before he ran away.

 

[audge86]

He's not a real taxi so opening the door isn't odd to me. He had to get out to advertise his service, he wouldn't have decals or anything. He's grateful to have a customer so he opens the door. Do you tip taxi drivers? The ones in Canada are very polite and open doors to try to get good tips.

If I'm alone, I sit up front. But again, I'm in Canada. I'm a woman too. I feel safer up front, I like being able to see where we're going. Harder from the back

 

[trish0000]

She fell in the river, screamed. He panicked. Thought about helping. Followed her down the river a bit or looked for her from the bank, then ran away panicking in a 'omg she is probably going to drown' way?

ye.?

 

[Bodger81]

We used to sit in the front seat of cabs in Hull/Eaat Yorks. Not unusual at all. Also not odd for drivers to get out and help you with bags, maybe open the door for you too. It’s a friendly area.