Shamed politician hangs himself in Japan

A disgraced former member of the Japanese parliament has committed suicide at his home in Tokyo.

Former House of Representatives member Yojiro Nakajima, 41, was found hanged at his home in the capital's Meguro-ku district.

Nakajima was sentenced to two years' imprisonment in September and fined 10m yen (about £57,000) by the Tokyo High Court after being convicted of several crimes, including receiving bribes.

The court had upheld a lower court ruling that found him guilty of receiving five million yen in bribes from Fuji Heavy Industries in October, 1996, in return for helping the company increase its role in the development of a search-and-rescue flying boat for the Maritime Self-Defence Force.

He was also convicted of stealing 10.3m yen of taxpayers' money by receiving salary for a fictitious secretary, and attempting to buy votes in his bid for the 1996 House of Representatives election.

Last month, he was also accused by the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau of concealing eight million yen in earnings.

Since being found guilty, Nakajima had been depressed and was often absent from the appeal hearings.