British teacher murdered by Japanese hentai collector?

The popular conception of anime and manga in the UK has always been edgy and sensationalist, but it took another turn for the worse today after it was reported that British teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker was murdered by a Japanese hentai manga fan. Detectives are investigating the property of prime suspect Tatsuya Ichihashi, who it is said could well have been playing out a “sick fantasy” from his graphic novels by burying Lindsay’s strangled body in a bath of sand.

• “Murdered British teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker was strangled after her hands and feet were bound with plastic cords – echoing the grisly images of Japanese Manga comics.”

  “It emerged that prime suspect Tatsuya Ichihashi had stalked the pretty 22-year-old in the week before her naked body was found buried in a bath of sand at his flat.”

  “Ichihashi, 28, has been on the run since fleeing barefoot from police when they called at his apartment in Ichikawa, east of Tokyo, to question him about Hawker. Detectives are probing the possibility that comic book fan Ichihashi had played out a sick fantasy from one of the stories in Hentai Manga – piles of which were found in his flat.”

Read the full story at thelondonpaper website. The article was featured on the front page of today’s thelondonpaper newspaper, the headline reading “Manga Twist To Bath Murder”. Thanks to shh227, Solo Tremaine and jeremy1985 for reporting this news.