Lucie's father starts help fund

Tim Blackman said he struggled to cope after his daughter disappeared

The father of murdered bar hostess Lucie Blackman has launched a fund to support other families who have had a loved one go missing abroad.

Tim Blackman, from Ryde on the Isle of Wight, said he wants to help people get through the "ghastly trauma" he went through when his daughter vanished.

Ms Blackman, 21, of Sevenoaks, Kent, was killed in Tokyo in 2000. Joji Obara was cleared of killing her.

Missing Abroad will help relatives and provide practical and financial aid.

Mr Blackman set up the group along with other families whose relatives have disappeared or been killed overseas.

When somebody goes missing or is killed abroad, you don't have the normal back-up you would have Tim Blackman

The help it will offer could range from booking flights and hotel rooms to finding translators, dealing with the local authorities and handling the media.

Mr Blackman, who is a property developer, initially struggled to get Japanese police to take an interest in his daughter's disappearance in July 2000.

He travelled to Tokyo several times to try to galvanise detectives' efforts, put up thousands of missing person posters, set up a telephone hotline and also carried out his own investigations.

He said: "I can't even think how on earth we managed to deal with some of the logistical stuff - it's just absolutely unbelievable.

An appeal over the acquittal of the man accused of killing Lucie is ongoing

"We managed, but I was in such a state of shock that I couldn't understand what people were saying to me, I couldn't organise anything."

Three foreign women eventually came forward to complain about Japanese property developer Mr Obara.

He was arrested in October 2000 but cleared of involvement in Miss Blackman's death last year.

However he was jailed for life after being convicted of a string of rapes and the manslaughter of an Australian woman.

Mr Blackman added: "If you've got £600 you can go anywhere in the world these days. It is going to happen - but I hope it's not going to happen all the time.

"We want to be there to help people through the ghastly trauma we had.

"When somebody goes missing or is killed abroad, you don't have the normal back-up you would have."

"You don't have your own police force investigating it. Of course, the Foreign Office is there, and they are very helpful in a pastoral way, but they aren't able to take on people's personal investigations and difficulties.

"And the other thing is nobody can give you any money."

Missing Abroad is part of the Lucie Blackman Trust and was being unveiled at an event on London on Thursday evening.