HAWKER SUSPECT REFUSES FOOD

THE prime suspect in the murder of Coventry teacher Lindsay Hawker has refused to eat since he was captured at a ferry port in Japan.

According to Japanese police, Tatsuya Ichihashi has accepted only water and green tea and “has not eaten at all” since he was taken into custody on Tuesday November 11.

The local media is also reporting the 30-year-old has remained silent and is refusing to answer officer’s questions during interrogation.

A Gyotoku Police Department spokesman said: “The suspect has remained silent about the case after he initially told us he has nothing to say.”

They may now have ask a doctor to examine him if he continues to refuse food.

Officers said he could be questioned for up to 20 days before prosecutors decided on a charge.

Ichihashi was arrested on a charge of abandoning a body, rather than the more serious crime of murder and a senior police official described him as “depressed by the shock of being arrested.”

In Japan murder can be punished with the death penalty by hanging, but is usually reserved for cases of multiple homicide.

Ichihashi, who recently underwent plastic surgery to alter his appearance, was arrested as he tried to take a ferry from Osaka to the southern island of Okinawa.

The body of 22-year-old Miss Hawker was found in a sand-filled bathtub in Ichihashi’s Tokyo flat in March 2007.

The fugitive had been on the run for more than two years since he fled the scene.

Miss Hawker’s parents Bill and Julia held a press conference at their home in Brandon, near Coventry.

Bill said: “This has been a long hard battle for the Hawkers, and the battle is over.

“We worked tirelessly as a family. We have never given up for our daughter. We have never given in. We wanted justice and we have finally got justice. We are so relieved that this part of our life is over.”

Miss Hawker’s parents have also told how they asked the Japanese mafia to help them find the only suspect in their daughter’s murder case.

They told the Mail on Sunday a TV crew arranged a meeting with the top families of the notorious Yakuza in Japan to ask for their help in finding Ichihashi.

Mr Hawker said he met with the mafia in a bar, gave them two bottles of whiskey as a present and asked for their help.

Meanwhile the reward of 10 million Yen (£66,500) for the capture of Ichihashi will be paid to several people who helped with his arrest.

This includes the person at the ferry terminal who tipped off police and the doctor who provided a photo of the suspect after surgery.

The payout will be the first of its kind since the country introduced the bounty system in 2007 and will be paid by the National Police Agency.

Ichihashi’s parents told reporters they were relieved their son had been captured.