JAPANESE detectives are piecing together a picture of the unemployed loner from their country’s “lost generation” who is suspected of killing a young British language teacher.

Officers believe Tatsuya Ichihashi developed an instant obsession with Lindsay Ann Hawker, whom he is alleged to have murdered. Her body was found buried in sand in a bathtub on the fourth-floor balcony of his Tokyo flat.

The killing of Hawker, 22, has been likened to scenes from the violent “manga” comics that have become a male youth cult in Japan.

There was also criticism of the police for allowing Ichihashi, the chief suspect, to escape.

Tim Blackman, the father of Lucie Blackman, the British hostess murdered in Japan seven years ago, said it echoed mistakes made in the investigation of the killing of his daughter.

“I just know how devastated these people are and what a terrible problem it is going to be for them. It’s just a great shame that the guy got out the back door,” he said.

There was evidence of heavy blows to Hawker’s legs, arms and face, with severe bruising around her eyes. Police have refused to comment on whether she was sexually assaulted.

To the embarrassment of the police, he managed to escape barefoot from the flat after a brief scuffle with officers, who then discovered the body.

Hawker’s father, Bill, said the man suspected of killing his daughter was one of Japan’s outcasts.

“I believe this man was a loner, a social misfit who targeted my daughter,” he said. “He must be caught.”

Ichihashi, 28, described by high school friends as an excellent athlete, studied horticulture at university. He lived by himself and there are no indications he worked since graduating.

Japanese society is troubled by the thousands of people emerging in Ichihashi’s generation who appear to have no ambitions or aims, in stark contrast to the “salaryman” work ethic of their parents. Many do little but read comics or play on computers. Inside his flat, police found piles of manga comic books, containing graphic images of sex and violence.

Ichihashi was given a caution for stalking a female student and taking a 10,000 yen (£45) note from the coffee shop where she worked.

According to police, Ichihashi approached Hawker in the street on March 21 and tried to strike up a conversation. He ran after her as she cycled to her flat nearby. Because her two English flatmates were at home, she agreed to let him in.

“He drew a picture of her in felt-tip pen and gave it to her at the same time as he gave her his home address and phone number,” said deputy superintendent Takeo Terajima. He said the suspect appeared to have been “obsessed” with Hawker, from Brandon near Coventry. Ichihashi apparently gained her confidence by discussing biology, which she had studied at Leeds University until last year. He convinced her to give him an English lesson on the following Saturday and wrote his name and address on a slip of paper.

That piece of paper led police to his home after her friends were unable to contact her by mobile phone and she failed to turn up for work.

“We are acting on lots of information and following many angles to this case,” said Terajima. As well as monitoring phone calls to Ichihashi’s family – his father is a surgeon and his mother a dentist living in the central prefecture of Gifu – officers have visited all his known associates.

Hawker’s boyfriend, Ryan Garside, wrote about Lindsay on his blog. “My girlfriend is going to Japan to become an English teacher. Although exciting for her, it’s sad for me as she will be gone for an entire year!”

Nathalie Boyle, a contemporary of Hawker at Leeds, wrote a message of condolence on Facebook, an internet message board: “We called her party girl because every day Lindsay came into the lecture theatre looking like she was just popping in before a party – like a model in her skirts and scarves and confident style.”

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