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| Version 4 | Version 5 |
|---|---|
| Obara acquitted over Lucie death | Obara acquitted over Lucie death |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| A Japanese businessman has been acquitted of raping and killing British bar hostess Lucie Blackman. | A Japanese businessman has been acquitted of raping and killing British bar hostess Lucie Blackman. |
| But Joji Obara was sentenced to life imprisonment for raping nine other women, including one - Australian Carita Ridgway - who died. | But Joji Obara was sentenced to life imprisonment for raping nine other women, including one - Australian Carita Ridgway - who died. |
| Ex-flight attendant Ms Blackman, 21, of Sevenoaks, Kent, was working in a Tokyo bar when she vanished in July 2000. | Ex-flight attendant Ms Blackman, 21, of Sevenoaks, Kent, was working in a Tokyo bar when she vanished in July 2000. |
| Her dismembered body was found in a cave near Obara's home in the village of Miura seven months later. | Her dismembered body was found in a cave near Obara's home in the village of Miura seven months later. |
| Father's battle | |
| Obara, 54, was arrested on charges of rape resulting in the death of Ms Blackman in 2001; he had been on trial at Tokyo District Court since 2003. | Obara, 54, was arrested on charges of rape resulting in the death of Ms Blackman in 2001; he had been on trial at Tokyo District Court since 2003. |
| Lucie's father Tim, from the Isle of Wight, spent thousands of pounds travelling to Japan to try to get the local police to investigate Lucie's disappearance as a suspected crime. | |
| TIMELINE 1 Jul 2000: Lucie Blackman vanishes in Tokyo21 Jul 2000: Tony Blair meets Lucie's parents and promises to raise their daughter's disappearance with the Japanese prime minister11 Oct 2000: Japanese police arrest and question Joji Obara, who is in custody in connection with several other rapes9 Feb 2001: Police find body parts in a cave at Miura, near Tokyo. They are later identified as Lucie's remains27 Nov 2003: Obara goes on trial in Tokyo24 April 2006: Obara acquitted | TIMELINE 1 Jul 2000: Lucie Blackman vanishes in Tokyo21 Jul 2000: Tony Blair meets Lucie's parents and promises to raise their daughter's disappearance with the Japanese prime minister11 Oct 2000: Japanese police arrest and question Joji Obara, who is in custody in connection with several other rapes9 Feb 2001: Police find body parts in a cave at Miura, near Tokyo. They are later identified as Lucie's remains27 Nov 2003: Obara goes on trial in Tokyo24 April 2006: Obara acquitted |
| Eventually, after he enlisted the support of prime minister Tony Blair and his Japanese counterpart, the police arrested Obara, a property developer who had a seaside home at Miura, outside Tokyo. | Eventually, after he enlisted the support of prime minister Tony Blair and his Japanese counterpart, the police arrested Obara, a property developer who had a seaside home at Miura, outside Tokyo. |
| Last year Mr Blackman accepted 100 million yen (£450,000) from a friend of Obara, but he denied it was "blood money" and said such "offers of condolence" were common in Japan and did not affect the court case. | Last year Mr Blackman accepted 100 million yen (£450,000) from a friend of Obara, but he denied it was "blood money" and said such "offers of condolence" were common in Japan and did not affect the court case. |
| Obara admits that he was with Lucie on the day she disappeared, but has always claimed that she became unwell at his apartment after taking drugs. | Obara admits that he was with Lucie on the day she disappeared, but has always claimed that she became unwell at his apartment after taking drugs. |
| He says that he then called an acquaintance and asked him to take her back to Tokyo. | He says that he then called an acquaintance and asked him to take her back to Tokyo. |
| Judge Tsutomu Tochigi said: "There is nothing to prove that he was involved in the rape and her death. The court cannot prove he was single-handedly involved in her death. | |
| "What is clear is that the victim acted together with the accused and then vanished and, following that, she was found dead." | |
| Obara's lawyer said his client Yasuo Shionoya would lodge an appeal over the verdict. | |
| "Regarding Carita's case, I think we will have to file an appeal. It's very plausible that we would file an appeal in the other cases as well," said Mr Shionoya. | |
| "I doubt whether liver failure could have been triggered by the use of chloroform." | |
| The judge said Ms Ridgway, who died of hepatitis at a Tokyo hospital in February 1992, had been drugged with chloroform by Obara. |