Prosecutor 'to appeal Lucie ruling'

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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 cleared 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.

Her mother, Jane Steare, said the British Embassy in Tokyo had confirmed that the city's public prosecutor will be appealing against the acquittal.

She said: "I am so relieved that the prosecutor has taken this decision, which, as Lucie's mum, I fully support.

"I believe that there are grounds to be optimistic that an appeal will succeed. All I have ever wanted is justice for my darling daughter Lucie."

Miss Blackman's father Tim, who was in Tokyo to hear the court's verdict, has already called for an appeal against the ruling.

Speaking at a press conference with his surviving daughter Sophie on Tuesday, Mr Blackman said: "I'm afraid to say the lack of justice for us 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."

The family are flying out from Tokyo and due to land at Heathrow, London, at 5.15pm on Wednesday. Mrs Steare could not bear to come face to face with Obara so decided to stay at home in Kent.