Blackman family vow to fight on

Property developer Joji Obara, 54, was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of a string of rapes and the death of an Australian woman.

But the Tokyo District Court acquitted him of raping and killing Miss Blackman, from Sevenoaks, Kent, who disappeared in July 2000 while working as a bar hostess in the Roppongi bar district of Tokyo.

The 21-year-old's dismembered body was discovered in a cave just 100 yards from Obara's apartment after a seven-month search. The prosecution alleged the businessman drugged and raped Miss Blackman before she died, and then chopped up her body and encased her head in concrete.

But Judge Tsutomu Tochigi ruled there was no firm evidence Obara was involved in the former British Airways flight attendant's death.

After the hearing Miss Blackman's father Tim, who was in Tokyo to hear the court's verdict, said his daughter had been robbed of justice and called for an appeal against the ruling.

Speaking at a press conference with his surviving daughter Sophie, Mr Blackman said: "I'm afraid to say the lack of justice for us today has been the failure of the prosecution team to develop the case adequately. There is nothing that will change that Lucie is dead, but in many respects Lucie has been robbed of her justice.

"We believe our family deserves to get proper justice for Lucie, and that prosecutors should strongly consider an appeal."

Miss Blackman's mother, Jane Steare, could not bear to come face to face with Obara and decided to stay at home in Kent. Following the judgment, she said: "I'm heartbroken, absolutely heartbroken. I just can't believe this verdict. My worst fears have come true." She vowed to keep up the fight for justice, saying: "Giving up is not an option for me, as any mother will understand."

Mrs Steare said she would be consulting the authorities and her legal advisers to understand what options are available to her in her ongoing search for justice.