THE family of a British teacher found murdered in Japan made a fresh appeal to find her killer yesterday.
Lindsay Ann Hawker, 22, was found dead in a bath filled with sand on the balcony of a flat in Ichikawa, east of Tokyo, on 27 March last year.
Her parents, Bill and Julia, and two sisters, Lisa and Louise, made the appeal at Heathrow airport before
flying out to the Japanese capital, where they hope to raise the profile of the case a year on since Miss Hawker died.
Detectives are still hunting 29-year-old suspect Tatsuya Ichihashi, who lived at the flat and fled when approached by officers for questioning.
Mr Hawker, 55, said that by travelling to Japan, the family hoped finally to "get justice for Lindsay".
Clutching a photo of his daughter, Mr Hawker said: "All of Lindsay's family and friends all over the world remain determined to keep up their efforts, and to seek justice for their daughter, sister and friend.
"Please don't let Lindsay's death be in vain, help us to get justice for Lindsay.
"She was an amazing young woman, who travelled to Japan to teach. She was brutally murdered and this evil man needs to be caught before he strikes again."
Mr Hawker added that the past year had been "dreadful" for the family, from Brandon near Coventry.
He said: "The year has just stood still for me. I should be standing here with all three of my girls."
The family will hold a press conference in Tokyo today and help Japanese police raise awareness with a new poster appeal tomorrow, exactly a year since Miss Hawker was last seen alive.
The new poster shows computer generated photo-fit pictures of what Ichihashi could look like one year on.
Mr Hawker said it was believed he could be being helped by a third party.
It is the first time the whole family has been out to Japan. Mr and Mrs Hawker, 51, last travelled to the country in September. Both they, Lisa, 26, and Louise, 23, have been learning Japanese in preparation for the trip.
The family is also expected to lay flowers at the scene where Miss Hawker's body was found, before they return home on Wednesday.
Lisa said the family would not give up trying to find Ichihashi.
She said: "He committed a dreadful act on my sister, it wasn't just murder, and that's why he needs to be taken off the streets."
Mr Hawker said the chief investigator of the case in Japan had said the crime had "brought shame" to the country.
A post-mortem examination showed Miss Hawker had been suffocated, and had suffered severe injuries to her arms.
A webpage set up on social networking site Facebook, called "Don't forget Lindsay Hawker, Please remember this Face", now has more than 20,000 members.
The full article contains 486 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
