Blackman's sister attacks mother's conduct in 'blood money' row

The sister of slain Tokyo bar hostess Lucie Blackman has attacked her mother as ''venomous'' and ''destructive'' in the bitter family row over ''blood money.''

Sophie Blackman says her family has been ''damaged'' by her mother's public criticism of Tim Blackman for accepting $900,000 condolence money from an associate of the man who was accused and then subsequently cleared of being involved in the death of Lucie.

Sophie also reveals that she hasn't spoken to her mother -- Jane Steare -- for two years, and discloses the relationship between Lucie and Steare was also ''turbulent.''

In her first big interview since Joji Obara was cleared last week of any involvement in Lucie's death, Sophie also claims that she suffered a nervous breakdown on the day her sister's ashes were buried.

Speaking to the glossy magazine Hello!, Sophie, 26, said, ''Mum still berates dad (Tim Blackman) publicly for accepting what she believes to be ''blood money.'' I, personally, find her attitude damaging. Her stance is destroying me.

''Dad used that money to pay back his family who gave us thousands of pounds so that we could afford to fly back and forwards to Japan over the last seven years. He has also put a lot of it into the Lucie Blackman Trust, which we set up in memory of Lucie, and for mine and my brother Rupert's futures.''

Property developer Tim Blackman and Jane Steare split up 12 years ago but, despite the passage of time, the wounds have not healed and, if anything, got worse since Lucie's death, according to Sophie.

She said, ''Dad might not have been a brilliant husband to her, but he has always been a very good father. He loves us children unconditionally and I can't abide my mother slagging him off as a dad just because he left her 12 years ago. She's very bitter about that.

''She had a turbulent relationship with Lucie, too. Knowing what we've been through, mum hasn't been very understanding. I find her venomous attack on my dad in the media most damaging. Witnessing her publicly attack my dad is so hard for me to endure. I find spending time with mum so damaging. We haven't spoken for two years because of it.''

Sophie told the magazine that she had received no message from Steare following the verdict, and fears that the rift between the two of them will never be mended.

Speaking about Lucie, whose body was found dismembered in a cave in Miura, Kanagawa Prefecture, in 2001, Sophie commented, ''She would feel very sad if she knew how acrimonious the relationship between mum and I has become.''

For her part, Steare has publicly criticized Tim Blackman's decision to take the condolence money as ''immoral,'' claiming it jeopardized the case against Obara.

She also says her ex-husband is attempting to exploit ''Sophie's pain, suffering and medical condition.'' Steare has, in the past, always maintained her relationship with Lucie was close and loving.

In the interview, Sophie recalled her first visit to Japan in the summer of 2000, days after her sister had gone missing, and the police's reluctance to take the case seriously.

She told Hello!, ''When I went to the police about Lucie's disappearance, I was rubbished for suspecting something criminal. They seemed to think that a young girl like her would just go off partying without a word to anyone. I knew my sister better than that.

''When dad and I first went to Tokyo after Lucie's disappearance, we discovered a lot of indifference from the police toward the girls who complained about being attacked. Because of the nature of their work as hostesses, and because many of them didn't have the correct legal papers to be there, they were dismissed.''

Sophie tells how, on March 23, 2005, she suffered a nervous breakdown after burying Lucie's ashes at the church near to where they lived in the southeast of England.

''The act of physically burying Lucie's ashes in the ground was symbolic of what had happened to her. That really spelled the end of her life for me. Later in the evening, when all the family had gone home and I was on my own, I felt so utterly depressed that I was unable to shake myself out of it. In the past, I'd had a good cry and somehow got on with life. But on this occasion, I was beside myself.''

She then spent the next 10 months receiving treatment and is now hoping to put her life back on track.

Sophie, who is now a specialist clinical cardiac physiologist, reveals she tried to look as much like Lucie as possible when she attended the court in Tokyo in order to disarm Obara. She says she felt no emotion toward him until just before the verdict was delivered, when the ''anger toward him boiled up inside me.''

Sophie added, ''Now I hope that, for my darling sister Lucie's sake, I will face him in court again. And we will go on to achieve the justice she deserves.''

On Tuesday, prosecutors appealed last week's Tokyo District Court decision to acquit Obara, 54, of all charges involving the death of Lucie Blackman.

It had been claimed that he raped and fatally drugged the former air stewardess at his home. He was also cleared of dismembering and abandoning her body.

Obara has appealed against last week's decision to find him guilty of raping and drugging nine other women, one fatally.