Japan releases video of suspect in Briton's death

TOKYO, May 8 (Reuters) Japanese police have released video footage of a man sought in connection with the death of a young British woman in a bid to make headway in the case over a month after her naked body was found in a sand-filled bathtub, an official said today.

Tatsuya Ichihashi, 28, is suspected of involvement in the death of Lindsay Ann Hawker, 22, an English teacher from Brandon near Coventry, after her body was found on the balcony of his apartment east of Tokyo on March 26.

Images of Ichihashi, taken by a security camera in the elevator of his apartment building for several days before Hawker's body was found, were widely shown by Japanese broadcasters.

''We hope to get more information (from the public),'' a police official said.

Ichihashi fled the apartment in the city of Ichikawa when police arrived to question him about the missing woman, losing his shoes and rucksack in a chase.

Hawker's father, who flew to Japan days after she was found, told a news conference that his daughter ''was not in any sort of relationship with the suspect''.

The video release comes after a wealthy Japanese businessman accused of killing British woman Lucie Blackman, 21, in 2000, was found not guilty of causing her death, but was jailed for life in April for nine other attacks on women, one fatal.

Police found Blackman's mutilated body buried in a seaside cave near an apartment belonging to the businessman, and prosecutors have appealed his acquittal.

Reuters RJ DB0908