Get Lucie Blackman keitai-mail

[Taro Toporific]

Tragedy inspires text service
ic NorthWales, UK - 5 July
The father of British hostess Lucie Blackman, who was murdered in Japan more than three years years ago, has launched a personal safety service based on mobile phones. ..Tim Blackman came up with the idea for Safetytext while searching for his daughter, who disappeared in 2000. Her dismembered remains were found seven months later.
The new service allows customers to leave a delayed message explaining where they are going and with whom.
Users decide how long to delay the message, from 30 minutes to 24 hours.
If they do not return within the stated time and cancel the message, it is sent by text to a chosen friend or relative.

[Captain Japan]

On a related note, this came out Sunday...

Cops accused of coverup in Blackman case

It's been four years to the week that British bar hostess Lucie Blackman was last seen alive -- leaving her Tokyo apartment.

Seventh months later, police discovered her dismembered body in a seaside cave in Kanagawa Prefecture. Her suspected killer, businessman Joji Obara, 52, has since been standing trial on a variety of charges, not all related to the Blackman case.

Nonetheless, the details of the case -- which generated a frenzy of publicity -- remain as murky as ever, writes journalist Kinichi Takada in Shukan Tokuho.

[emperor]

If they do not return within the stated time and cancel the message, it is sent by text to a chosen friend or relative.

I forsee a lot of forgetful people being "pronounced missing, presumed dead" and waking up with a nasty hangover to a picture of themselves on page 1..

[Taro Toporific]

Yes, yes, I know Tim Blackman spent YEARS pursuring justice for Lucie and battled-an-won against the slacker "wa-police", but doesn't this "Charity" sound just a little bit like he's milking his daughter's murder for self-aggrandisement? (Damn, the Internet has made me supicious of everyone's motives. )

Charity set up for murdered Lucie
Thursday, 21 July, 2005, 19:54 GMT 20:54 UK
Mr Blackman came up with the idea while searching for his daughter
The father of murdered nightclub hostess Lucie Blackman is unveiling a charity in his daughter's name. The 21-year-old from Kent was killed in Japan in 2000.
Tim Blackman, who lives on the Isle of Wight, will launch the charity at a concert at the Corinthian Yacht Club in Cowes on Friday evening.
The Lucie Blackman Trust will aim to promote measures which help those abroad get in contact with people back home, including a safety text scheme.
The Lucie Blackman name has a resonance with people
Tim Blackman came up with the idea for Safetytext while searching for his daughter.
Users create a message detailing their travel plans and set a time delay of between 30 minutes and 24 hours.
If they have not returned and cancelled the message by the deadline, it is sent to a chosen friend or relative.
He told the BBC News Website that the new trust would look at different ways of using technology to enhance safety for adults and young people..

.

[kurohinge1]

... Mr Blackman ... .

Taro-san, why is Nick Nolte's photo on the right?

Also, is Mr Blackman related to Simon Le Bon?

[Greji]

Also, is Mr Blackman related to Simon Le Bon?

Simon, who is known to have a pint, will be in Japan shortly to sort this out. I wouldn't be suprised if he calls Taro, which I'm sure will be more important then any old music tour!

[Kuang_Grade]

On a similar note (although not automated)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/17/AR2005071700879.html

'ICE' Cell Phone Plan Would Help Rescuers
Idea to Designate Next of Kin in Electronic Address Book Is Gaining Popularity
By Sam Coates
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 18, 2005; Page A06

To its owner, the cell phone is an indispensable lifeline at times of crisis, reuniting loved ones separated by unforeseen events at the touch of a button. But for members of the emergency services making life-and-death decisions, the cell poses a conundrum: Which of the numbers stored in its electronic address book should they call to reach a casualty's next of kin?

Now a simple initiative, conceived by a paramedic in Britain, has gained momentum on both sides of the Atlantic to try to solve this problem. Cell users are being urged to put the acronym ICE -- "in case of emergency" -- before the names of the people they want to designate as next of kin in their cell address book, creating entries such as "ICE -- Dad" or "ICE -- Alison."

At least two police forces in the United States are considering the idea, according to the initiative's British-based promoters, who say there has been a flurry of interest since the recent bombings in London.

Paramedics, police and firefighters often waste valuable time trying to figure out which name in a cell phone to call when disaster strikes, according to current and retired members of the emergency services, who said they must look through wallets for clues, or scroll through cell address books and guess. Many people identify their spouse by name in their cell, making them indistinguishable from other entries.

[blackcat]

"This and the fact that Obara was already in custody lead Takada to believe that the body was never in the cave at the time of the first search, and therefore someone other than than Obara must of have put it there."

FUCKING HELL WHERE IS NHK??? this is a major scandal...OH I forgot, Its a JAP. killing a GAIJIN so...no need to cover this one agian...
other way round tho....cancel some FOOD TV shows.

"Finally, the journalist returns to the possibility of an accomplice. Obara was known to video his sexual escapades, but was not always alone in doing this."

"As reported in the media, an acquaintance helped make the videos, and this mystery man had two very defining characteristics -- a missing little finger and a tattoo on his hand. The police, however, have showed no interest in following up on this lead, according to Takada."

ah yes JAPAN...CRIMINAL INC.

followed with lies, denial and self pity.

[Mulboyne]

FUCKING HELL WHERE IS NHK??? this is a major scandal

The article was over a year ago...this is an old thread.

Do you watch NHK? They did a whole programme a few months back on this issue and the problems of circumstantial evidence. One of the wide shows covered similar ground. It seems that although the British were able to exert pressure on Japan to get Obara's phone records, which give compelling evidence of his connection with Blackman, they cannot be used extensively in court because the police were obliged to break privacy laws to get them. Consequently, the Blackman case against Obara is not that strong and he has resisted police "pressure" to confess or admit to a lesser charge.
Faced with a wall of silence, the police have focused their conviction efforts on the six charges of rape and the murder of another hostess but, politically, they cannot drop the weaker Blackman charges and may yet secure a conviction if the weight of evidence in the other cases tips the balance. Once Obara has been convicted, the police are banking that he will co-operate and name any accomplices, although the TV shows speculated that he may remain in denial and never reveal anything.
The shows I saw were critical of the police for failing to investigate earlier hostess complaints about Obara - especially since his video collection points towards him being a serial rapist for 15 years. They didn't mention specific speculation about "another man" and the only place that rumour has popped up is unsourced stories in the weeklies

[Mulboyne]

24Dash: Lily Allen and Scissor Sisters record messages for murdered hostess

Chart-topping acts Lily Allen and Scissor Sisters have pledged their support for a charity set up in memory of murdered hostess Lucie Blackman. The showbiz stars are the latest to record messages for the Lucie Blackman Trust, which was set up by her father Tim in her memory and with the aim of keeping young people safe. The Trust was launched after Ms Blackman, a former flight attendant from Sevenoaks in Kent, vanished while working as a hostess in a nightclub in the Roppongi district of Tokyo in July 2000...During last weekend's music festival Bestival on the Isle of Wight, the singers, along with the Pet Shop Boys and DJ/event organiser Rob Da Bank, recorded the messages for the website www.lucieblackmantrust.org...Earlier this year at the Isle of Wight festival, Coldplay dedicated a song to Miss Blackman and Kate Moss recorded a message.

[Taro Toporific]

Lucie Blackman's dad sets up trust to help others stay safe
Japan Times, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2006
...Blackman plans to publish the lurid journal of a former hostess on the site, so that anyone contemplating such a life will have a realistic picture of the work involved....
The problem with having only a travel visa, Blackman said, is that hostesses who are abused by their clients or employers are reluctant to complain to the police because they are working illegally.
He believes the hostess industry is now more dangerous for women than it was a decade ago as the traditional family-run "snack" bars, which tend to look after their female employees, are falling by the wayside as bigger businesses, often run by foreigners* who have close links with the sex industry, take over.....

*WTF?! "Foreigners" run bigger businesses tied to Japan's sex industry.