Blair asked to intervene in Hawker case

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is being urged to press his Japanese counterpart to ensure that everything is being done to find the killer of English teacher Lindsay Hawker, amid little signs of progress in the nine-week investigation.

Bill Olner, a member of Britain's lower chamber, the House of Commons, recently asked Blair to talk to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe," to put his (Abe's) authority behind the effort to ensure that the killer is caught, and to ensure that the Japanese state police are involved."

He also urged Blair to arrange for a British police officer to sit in on the Japanese investigation as an observer and report back to Hawker's parents.

Olner, who is the local parliamentarian for the Hawker family, said the Japanese police "had been doing their best to apprehend the killer," but "have not been successful."

Blair said he understood "the Japanese authorities are treating it as a major case" with "something like 100 police officers or more working on it."

He said he would "reflect carefully" on Olner's request and come back to him with a reply at a later date.

Hawker's body was found in a sand-filled bathtub on the balcony of an apartment in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, on March 26. Tatsuya Ichihashi, 28, who lived in the property, is wanted in connection with her death.

Despite the sizeable police investigation and release of security camera footage of the suspect, little progress has so far been made. There have also been some concerns about the handling of the case.

Some experts have criticized the fact that Ichihashi was able to get past several police officers who arrived at the suspect's flat on March 26.

Lindsay's father, William Hawker, has recently said he thought the British Embassy or Japanese police could have come up with a more recent photo of Ichihashi as the one currently on posters is several years old.

Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett called on the Japanese media to give the case more coverage.

The suspect befriended the 22-year-old English teacher, who worked for Nova Corp, several days before her death, and asked Hawker to give him English lessons.

Security camera footage shows Ichihashi and Hawker in a coffee shop on the day before her body was discovered.

Police believe Hawker was probably suffocated after being partially strangled and severely beaten. Her body had been found tied with synthetic-resin cord.