A man has appeared in court charged with raping and murdering a 21-year-old student who was found dead nearly seven weeks after she disappeared.

Pawel Relowicz appeared at Hull Crown Court on Thursday and will go on trial next year, a judge ruled.

The 25-year-old was remanded in custody by Judge Paul Watson QC, who fixed a provisional trial date for June 2, 2020, during a brief hearing. 

Libby Squire vanished near her home in Hull in the early hours of February 1, prompting a widespread search around the East Yorkshire city, where she was studying philosophy.

Her body was eventually recovered from the Humber Estuary in March, nearly seven weeks after her disappearance.

Squire was last seen at around 12.10am on February 1 near her home in Wellesley Avenue, Hull, having returned from an evening out.

Later that morning, she was reported missing, prompting an intensive search by hundreds of uniformed officers as well as search specialists, dog handlers, underwater officers and the public.

But weeks later, on March 20, police revealed that a body had been recovered from the Humber Estuary, with tests confirming the next day that it was that of Squire.