British expat teacher murder suspect has plastic surgery

Japanese police have released images of what they believe the wanted Tatsuya Ichihashi now looks like after he had plastic surgery to change his appearance to avoid capture.

Ichihashi is the wanted for the murder of expat Lindsay Ann Hawker, the teacher who was found in his Chiba apartment tied and naked in a bathtub filled with sand in 2007.

Police sources have informed them that they believe Ichihashi underwent plastic surgery in Osaka. The sighting was the first confirmed identification of the 30-year-old who has been at large since the killing. After consulting hospital photographs police have claimed the murder suspect now looks like, which include a longer jaw, a fuller face, changed eyebrows and surgery to remove moles from his face.

Investigations found that they man who was apparently Ichihashi paid for the plastic surgery with cash, gave a false name and address and failed to return for the removal of the stitches one week after the operation. Police believe he may have also had previous surgery while on the run. The operations mean that earlier photos of Ichihashi used for identification were now redundant.

An English language teacher, Lindsay Hawker was from the town of Brandon near Coventry. She was only 22-years-old at the time of her death. Forensic investigation revealed that she had been repeatedly beaten over a period of 36 hours, bound in gardening tape with her hair cut off she was buried naked in the sand-filled bathtub.

Ichihashi is believed to have lured her to his apartment under the pretence of a private English lesson.