Japan legal battle on Briton's death far from over

TOKYO, Apr 25 (Reuters) More than 6 years after British bar hostess Lucie Blackman's dismembered body was found in a seaside cave, her anguished family's battle for justice looks set for an eventual showdown at Japan's highest court.

In one of Japan's most horrendous sex crime cases, Joji Obara was sentenced to life in jail yesterday for raping 8 women and for drugging, raping and slaying Carlita Ridgway, a 21-year-old Australian hostess who died in hospital in 1992.

But the Tokyo District Court found the 54-year-old property developer not guilty of similar charges regarding Blackman, whose remains -- including a severed head encased in concrete -- were found in a coastal cave seven months after she vanished in July 2000.

The case of the former British Airways flight attendant attracted huge attention abroad and highlighted the dangers faced by women working in hostess clubs, where men pay huge sums to drink and chat with female companions.

Yesterday's verdict stunned Blackman's family, and her father told a news conference in Tokyo that he would urge prosecutors to appeal against the verdict, which they can do under Japanese law.

Obara, who was a rich and flamboyant property developer, has denied all the charges and has appealed against the verdict.

''This will probably go to the Supreme Court,'' said former prosecutor Takeshi Tsuchimoto, now a professor at Hakuoh University Law School.

''The defence has already filed an appeal, and the prosecutors should certainly do so,'' Tsuchimoto said. ''He was sentenced to life in prison, but the court failed to find him guilty on the charges concerning Lucie, which were the core of their case.'' A spokeswoman for the Tokyo prosecutors office declined to comment on a possible appeal, which legal experts said would have to be lodged within 14 days of the verdict.

CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE Some Japanese media have criticised police and prosecutors for a sloppy investigation and noted that a man suspected of killing Briton Lindsay Hawker in March was still on the run. The man fled the apartment near Tokyo where police found the 22-year-old English teacher's body in a sand-filled bathtub.

''It would not be an exaggeration to say that the true worth of Japan's police is being called into question,'' said an editorial in the conservative Sankei newspaper.

Legal experts, however, faulted a legal system that has long relied on confessions by defendants or testimony of accomplices and eyewitnesses to prove guilt in criminal cases.

''In Japan, the requirements for proof are very strict so the verdict was not so unexpected,'' said Hiroshi Itakura, a criminal law professor at Nihon University's Law School.

''But I think if the judge had made an overall assessment based on other evidence, Obara could have been found guilty.'' Former prosecutor Tsuchimoto agreed.

''In the past, many cases relied on confessions ... But even a child could find a defendant guilty if there is a confession,'' he said. ''The era of relying on confessions alone is over.'' Experts said it could take another 18 months or so before a final verdict was reached if the case went to the Supreme Court after passing through the Tokyo High Court.

Obara is at any rate likely to spend many years in jail, even though the district court reduced his sentence by 1,600 days for time already spent in custody while on trial.

Criminals sentenced to life in prison are eligible for parole after 10 years, but the recent average is more than 20 years, Itakura said. ''Authorities are getting tougher and it is impossible that he would be released quickly,'' he said.

REUTERS LPB PM1330