Slain Briton's parents plead for Japanese help

TOKYO, June 29 (Reuters) The parents of a young British woman killed in Japan made a tearful appeal to the public today for information to kick-start the hunt for her suspected murderer, which has dragged on for three months.

Lindsay Hawker, a 22-year-old English teacher, was found dead in a bathtub full of sand on an apartment balcony near Tokyo in March.

Police launched a nationwide search for Tatsuya Ichihashi, who slipped away barefoot when officers arrived at the apartment to question him.

''If anybody is harbouring him, you must come forward, you must give this evil man up. He is a disgrace to society,'' Hawker's 54-year-old father, William, said at a news conference in Tokyo.

Japanese police announced a reward on Friday of up to a million yen (,100) for significant information on the case, two days after Hawker's parents and younger sister, Louise, arrived on a visit intended to boost media coverage of the hunt.

Japanese police have come under fire for their investigations into previous attacks on foreign women, including Briton Lucie Blackman, whose dismembered body was found buried in a cave near Tokyo in 2000.

But more than 100 police officers have been assigned to the Hawker case and British officials have said they are satisfied with Japanese efforts. Two British police officers arrived in Japan last week to liaise between the family and Japanese police.

The National Police Agency posted a picture of 28-year-old Ichihashi on their Web site, adding to posters already displayed around the capital and video footage of the suspect shown repeatedly on national television.

The Hawkers have launched their own Web site (www.lindsayannhawker.com) to appeal for information and will appear on a crime programme on Japanese television to publicise the case on Saturday.

The lack of leads on Ichihashi has led to speculation that he may have committed suicide, but Hawker's mother Julia said she had been told the inquiry continued on the assumption that he was still alive.

''I think it's a question on everybody's mind. They've got no evidence to suggest that he has. They are leading the inquiry fully in the expectation of apprehending him,'' she said.

REUTERS SLD RK1410