Body identified as missing British teacher

A woman found dead in a bath of sand in a Japanese apartment has been identified as that of a missing British language teacher.

Police in Ichikawa have issued an arrest warrant for a Japanese man, thought to be an acquaintance of 22-year-old Lindsey Ann Hawker, whose home town is not known, said official Masaru Hiratsu.

Ms Hawker's body had been placed in a sand-filled bath on the balcony of an apartment of a 28-year-old Japanese man in Ichikawa, just east of Tokyo, he said.

Ms Hawker was reported missing yesterday by officials at Nova, the language school where she worked.

A British woman who lived with Ms Hawker alerted the police yesterday afternoon to tell them she had not returned home and could not be reachable on her mobile phone, according to media reports.

The case comes ahead of a ruling later this year in the trial of a Japanese businessman accused of raping and fatally drugging British bar hostess Lucie Blackman in 2000.

Joji Obara, 54, is charged with rape leading to the death of Lucie Blackman. Prosecutors claim Obara gave Blackman a fatal drug overdose and raped her before dismembering her body in June 2000.

Blackman was working at a Tokyo night club when she disappeared. Her remains were found near Obara's beachside condominium outside Tokyo in February 2001 following an extensive search.