Prosecutors failed to do their jobs, claims bereaved father
Tim Blackman accused Japanese prosecutors of failing to do their job after the man charged with raping and killing his Tokyo bar hostess daughter was acquitted.
The Briton remained controlled during a press conference in Tokyo with his other daughter, Sophie, despite a deeply dissatisfying meeting with prosecutors after the verdict.
'We thought we had covered ourselves for every eventuality, and Sophie and I spent a lot of time yesterday preparing our statements for today,' he said.
'We had no idea that the prosecution would fail to make the charges stick. This has left us feeling completely unresolved.'
When the judge said that Joji Obara would receive a life sentence for causing the death of Australian Carita Ridgway and raping eight other women, Mr Blackman said he felt 'an immediate rush of elation'. But within seconds, the feeling disappeared when it became clear the prosecution had failed to win justice for his daughter.
'It is a bitter disappointment to us that Lucie's life has been lost to us and that the justice system has failed us.'
Sophie Blackman was less restrained than her father - she lost her temper and shouted at prosecutors after the court hearing. She said from the beginning of the legal case 61/2 years ago 'all we had ever hoped for was justice for Lucie and for us to know that Obara would spend the rest of his life in prison. That was our justice'.
The Blackmans accused prosecutors of failing to present evidence to the court that would have conclusively linked Obara with Lucie Blackman, an issue that the judge commented on in his summation.
'The lack of that link has been the single factor that has left us without justice for Lucie,' Mr Blackman said.
Sophie Blackman said she believed the omission was an oversight rather than a deliberate choice not to present the court with the evidence, which was not detailed as prosecutors are considering an appeal.
The Blackmans were angry that they could not meet senior prosecutors, who have until now been handling the case, after the verdict. Instead, they spoke with a junior, who only joined the case in April and was unable to give them satisfactory answers to their questions.
