A Japanese man convicted of raping and murdering a British teacher has been sentenced to life in prison.

Japan’s Chiba District Court on Thursday sentenced Tatsuya Ichihashi for killing 22-year-old Lindsay Ann Hawker.

Hawker’s parents were present on Thursday to hear the verdict. Her father had previously asked the court to show Ichihashi no mercy.

Her body was found in an earth-filled bathtub on the balcony of Ichihashi’s apartment in Tokyo in 2007.

Ichihashi admitted at his trial that he lured Hawker to his apartment, where he bound and raped her, but said he did not intend to kill her. He said he accidentally strangled her while trying to silence her screams.

Ichihashi eluded a nationwide manhunt for more than two years. After his arrest, he wrote a book describing how he used false identities and even underwent cosmetic surgery to avoid detection.