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196342
Thu, 07/21/2011 - 16:22
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Ichihashi gets life in prison for murdering British woman Hawker+
CHIBA, Japan, July 21 Kyodo -
Tatsuya Ichihashi was sentenced to life imprisonment Thursday for raping and murdering British woman Lindsay Hawker in 2007 in a high-profile case in which the culprit was on the run for more than two years.
Presiding Judge Masaya Hotta at the Chiba District Court said the 32-year-old defendant intended to kill the 22-year-old English teacher, handing down the ruling following deliberations with other professional and citizen judges.
''The defendant pressed her neck hard for at least three minutes. That showed he had clear intent to kill her,'' the judge said.
Ichihashi, wearing a black shirt and gray pants, lowered his eyes and did not budge on hearing the sentence, while tears welled up in the eyes of Hawker's parents, Bill Hawker, 58, and his wife Julia, 54, as they heard the ruling turn out to be what the prosecutors had sought. They came to Japan from Britain to take part in the trial.
''The defendant's deed was vicious and committed for an extremely selfish motive. He feared his rape may have been found out,'' Hotta said.
''The defendant ran away for a long time and that hampered work to get to the bottom of the case. His criminal responsibility is very heavy,'' the judge said. Ichihashi went on the run for two years and seven months until his arrest in November 2009.
The court judged that Ichihashi raped and strangled Hawker at his apartment in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, around March 25, 2007, and then dumped her body in a sand-filled bathtub on a balcony.
Ichihashi denied murdering Hawker but admitted he caused her death. He apologized to the Hawker family in court for his actions.
In Japan, life imprisonment -- technically termed imprisonment without a fixed period -- is the second-heaviest criminal punishment.
It does not necessarily mean the inmate will be incarcerated for the rest of his life. Under the Penal Code, the inmate may be given parole after serving a minimum of 10 years. The average length of such inmates' doing time came to 30 years and two months in 2009, according to a Justice Ministry tally.
After the session, Bill Hawker told the press near the court, ''We've waited four and a half years to get justice for Lindsay and we have achieved that today. We're very pleased.''
He was accompanied by his wife and their two other daughters, Lisa and Louise. With Julia holding a picture of Lindsay, the father expressed gratitude to Japanese and British police and Japanese people for helping arrest Ichihashi, saying, ''We have not gone this far without everyone's help.''
He also said breaking into a tearful voice, ''Lindsay loved Japan and you have not left a doubt.'' The family was speaking in front of around 20 TV cameras, including CNN and the BBC, and a mass of Japanese and foreign press. The four did not take questions.
The Hawkers and the daughters took part in trial sessions between July 4 and 12.
Ichihashi fled from police officers on the evening of March 26, 2007, when they came to his apartment after the language school Lindsay Hawker worked for reported she was missing. The police put him on the wanted list. He underwent cosmetic surgery to alter his face and worked under a false name.
Ichihashi wrote a book published in January on his life as a fugitive as an expression of ''contrition'' for what he did. Hawker's parents turned down his offer to assign them all royalties from the book.
==Kyodo
Tatsuya Ichihashi was sentenced to life imprisonment Thursday for raping and murdering British woman Lindsay Hawker in 2007 in a high-profile case in which the culprit was on the run for more than two years.
Presiding Judge Masaya Hotta at the Chiba District Court said the 32-year-old defendant intended to kill the 22-year-old English teacher, handing down the ruling following deliberations with other professional and citizen judges.
''The defendant pressed her neck hard for at least three minutes. That showed he had clear intent to kill her,'' the judge said.
Ichihashi, wearing a black shirt and gray pants, lowered his eyes and did not budge on hearing the sentence, while tears welled up in the eyes of Hawker's parents, Bill Hawker, 58, and his wife Julia, 54, as they heard the ruling turn out to be what the prosecutors had sought. They came to Japan from Britain to take part in the trial.
''The defendant's deed was vicious and committed for an extremely selfish motive. He feared his rape may have been found out,'' Hotta said.
''The defendant ran away for a long time and that hampered work to get to the bottom of the case. His criminal responsibility is very heavy,'' the judge said. Ichihashi went on the run for two years and seven months until his arrest in November 2009.
The court judged that Ichihashi raped and strangled Hawker at his apartment in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, around March 25, 2007, and then dumped her body in a sand-filled bathtub on a balcony.
Ichihashi denied murdering Hawker but admitted he caused her death. He apologized to the Hawker family in court for his actions.
In Japan, life imprisonment -- technically termed imprisonment without a fixed period -- is the second-heaviest criminal punishment.
It does not necessarily mean the inmate will be incarcerated for the rest of his life. Under the Penal Code, the inmate may be given parole after serving a minimum of 10 years. The average length of such inmates' doing time came to 30 years and two months in 2009, according to a Justice Ministry tally.
After the session, Bill Hawker told the press near the court, ''We've waited four and a half years to get justice for Lindsay and we have achieved that today. We're very pleased.''
He was accompanied by his wife and their two other daughters, Lisa and Louise. With Julia holding a picture of Lindsay, the father expressed gratitude to Japanese and British police and Japanese people for helping arrest Ichihashi, saying, ''We have not gone this far without everyone's help.''
He also said breaking into a tearful voice, ''Lindsay loved Japan and you have not left a doubt.'' The family was speaking in front of around 20 TV cameras, including CNN and the BBC, and a mass of Japanese and foreign press. The four did not take questions.
The Hawkers and the daughters took part in trial sessions between July 4 and 12.
Ichihashi fled from police officers on the evening of March 26, 2007, when they came to his apartment after the language school Lindsay Hawker worked for reported she was missing. The police put him on the wanted list. He underwent cosmetic surgery to alter his face and worked under a false name.
Ichihashi wrote a book published in January on his life as a fugitive as an expression of ''contrition'' for what he did. Hawker's parents turned down his offer to assign them all royalties from the book.
==Kyodo
