Murder accused fugitive had plastic surgery, police say

A THICKER jaw, lower eyebrows and a protruding bottom lip — images of the facelifted fugitive who allegedly killed Briton Lindsay Hawker were released by Japanese police yesterday.

Tatsuya Ichihashi, who has been on the run since 2007 since Hawker’s battered body was found in a bathtub full of sand at his flat in Tokyo, had plastic surgery to help him vanish, officers believe.

The suspect, now 30, is thought to have invested in cheek implants and lip-thinning treatments in an operation a fortnight ago.

The new photograph, believed to have been taken before he underwent the latest surgery, shows he had already undergone extensive changes to alter his appearance.

Hawker, 22, from Brandon, near Coventry, was pursuing her dream of teaching English in Japan. Relatives previously said they had not been contacted by police about the development.

She was last seen on March 25, 2007, with Ichihashi before her body was discovered on the balcony of his flat.

A family statement said they “had never given up hope” that her killer would be caught.