British teacher 'beaten and suffocated to death' in Japan

British language teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker, whose naked body was found in a sand-filled bath in a Japanese apartment, was beaten and then suffocated to death, police said today.

Police are still hunting for the prime suspect, the 28-year-old Japanese male resident of the apartment in Ichikawa city east of Tokyo where Lindsay’s body was found on Monday.

A post-mortem conducted yesterday determined that Lindsay, 22, from Brandon near Coventry, suffocated and was beaten several times, said police official Takeo Terajima.

Police believe she was either strangled or smothered. Terajima said he had no information on whether Lindsay had been sexually assaulted.

The suspect first approached Lindsay near a train station on March 21, saying he wanted to learn English and followed her to her apartment, said police officer Akira Ebihara. Lindsay let him in because she had a roommate and he seemed eager to learn, Ebihara said.

The suspect drew a picture of Lindsay, wrote down his name and phone number before leaving her apartment, Ebihara said, adding that Lindsay agreed to give him an English lesson on Sunday morning.

The suspect, who is still at large, fled past police officers on Monday as they were questioning his neighbours.

Bill Hawker, who is in Japan to receive his daughter’s body, tearfully told reporters yesterday that he would not rest until the suspect was caught.

“My daughter didn’t come here to be murdered. She came here to help people, she came here to teach,” he said. “I will not rest till the man who killed my daughter is caught.”

The case comes ahead of a verdict in the trial of a Japanese businessman accused of raping and fatally drugging British bar hostess Lucie Blackman in 2000.

Joji Obara, 54, has been charged with rape leading to the death of Blackman. Prosecutors claim Obara gave her a fatal drug overdose and raped her before dismembering her body.

Lucie, from Sevenoaks in Kent, was working at a Tokyo night club when she disappeared. Her remains were found near Obara’s beachside condominium near the capital in 2001.