Life sentence call in Lucie trial

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Prosecutors summing up in the case of British bar hostess Lucie Blackman have demanded her alleged Japanese killer be jailed for life.

Joji Obara is on trial at Tokyo District Court, accused of abducting, raping and killing the 21-year-old.

Ms Blackman, who was found dead in a Japanese village in 2001, was from Sevenoaks in Kent and was working in Tokyo when she vanished.

Mr Obara denies the charges. A verdict is expected in December.

Ms Blackman, a former flight attendant, was working as a bar hostess at a nightclub in the Roppongi district when she vanished in July 2000.

Her dismembered body was found in a cave near Mr Obara's home in the secluded fishing village of Miura, outside Tokyo, in February 2001 - seven months after she disappeared.

'Exceptionally grave'

Mr Obara, who went on trial in November 2003, is accused of a number of attacks on women, including abduction of Ms Blackman, rape resulting in death, and disposal of her body.

On Tuesday, prosecutors said the case of Ms Blackman was "exceptionally grave", according to the AFP news agency.

The prosecution also said Mr Obara had looked on the internet to try to buy sulphuric acid to dispose of Ms Blackman's body, AFP added.

At the weekend, Lucie's father Tim Blackman admitted he had accepted a payment of 100 million yen (£450,000) from a friend of Mr Obara.

He said a substantial amount of the money would go to the Lucie Blackman Trust, created to promote ways of helping those abroad to get in contact with people back home.

Mr Blackman said the offer would not have any impact on the trial's outcome.

But he acknowledged Lucie's mother Jane Steare, and his two other children, Rupert and Sophie, did not agree with his decision to take the money.