I am wondering when did the defence suggest that they have a problem with the timing? (Maybe they did of course but from the snippets I have seen, I didn't get that impression). Their line of argument is that PR left her outside the park alive and well and that they never got into the park.
12:58
'What happened at Oak Road?'
Mr Saxby said: “What happened at Oak Road? What is the evidence? Five areas: The CCTV, Alford, Brewster and Durkin, the DNA, evidence of Dr Lyall and evidence of Professor Deakin.
“The prosecution theory: They don’t have to prove precisely how Pawel Relowicz killed Libby Squire but there is only a limited amount of options and they have to prove that he did actually kill her. Their case in opening was that ‘at Oak Road having exited his vehicle, we say Relowicz raped Libby and killed her, causing her death during that act of sexual violence which culminated in him putting her dead or dying into the River Hull’ as in he put his hand over her mouth, asphyxiating her.
“Of the seven and a half minutes he was away from his car, the theory continued, ‘that window was more than enough time for the defendant to have taken or pursue Libby out into the playing fields, sexually attacked and killed her, put her body in the river and run back to the car.’
Sprint, more like.
“They were good enough to accept it was ‘tight’ the timing. You see the maps and the photos, you know the distances and the conditions - dark, wet and slippery. There is a lot to be done in that time, including taking or pursuing her. If there is one bit of hard work I ask you to do is this: What is it they’re saying happened to Libby? They have to present some sort of violent scenario, how did she get to by the water? Did he rape her by the car, kill her there and then carry her? Did he take her along the path and rape her by the pond and kill her? Where was this pursuing? It’s because of the intermittent screaming - not one terrible scream, that’s why they use that word because they want you to picture him pursuing her.
“He did get her over there by the river, one way or another. He took her and chased after her for a period and raped her and so on.
No wonder they needed him to be running on Sam Alford’s account. Perhaps because of this problem they have another variation - we were told it is perfectly possible he didn’t put her body into the water until the third visit.
“Those are the theories, framed you may think, by the evidence.”
Libby Squire murder trial live: Defence gives closing statement