THE ISLE of Wight businesssman father of murdered former air hostess Lucie Blackman said a man who conned him out of £15,500 when he was desperate to find his missing daughter should be "severely punished".

Michael Hills, 59, told Tim Blackman he had contacts in the "criminal underworld" that could locate and secure the release of his daughter after she disappeared while in Japan in July 2000.

The conman even promised the Blackman family that he could produce a lock of the 21-year-old's hair to prove that she was still alive - despite the fact that she had already been dead for at least two weeks.

Mr Blackman eventually flew to Japan after Hills's claimed that she was to be released on a particular date and time, but his hopes were completely dashed when she failed to materialise.

The remains of Miss Blackman were eventually found in a cave near Tokyo in February 2002. Japanese property developer Joji Obara is standing trial in the Japanese capital accused of murdering the former British Airways hostess. He denies fatal assault, or rape resulting in death.

Hills, of Lower Marsh, Waterloo, London was told yesterday that he would almost certainly face jail after pleading guilty to two counts of obtaining property by deception, when he appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court in Essex.

The other charge relates to £5,000 he conned out of Brian Winder, from Great Baddow, Essex - the father of Paul Winder, who was reported missing in Latin America in March 2000.

He was kidnapped while taking part in a trek from Panama to Colombia and held captive for nine months by local guerrilla fighters. Mr Winder was eventually released and returned home safely to the UK later in the year.

Again Hills had promised the Winder family that he could help them trace their missing loved one by using contacts he had in Panama.

Adjourning sentencing until May 30, Judge Rodger Hayward Smith QC said: "This is a particularly upsetting sort of case, I have read the files and the chances of him (Hills) seeing anything other than a custodial sentence are remote."

Hills was released on conditional bail until his sentencing date.

Mr Blackman, 49, a property developer, said that Hills's guilty pleas had given him some sort of relief as a full trial was now not necessary.

He said: "Hopefully, it may indicate some deal of remorse for what he did.

"Part of me still wonders if he could have made a difference but the overwhelming feeling I have is of disgust and abomination that he did not turn around a few days later and say that he couldn't do anything to help.

"He infiltrated my life with completely false promises and lies. It is just despicable.

"The money makes it very, very much worse. I hope that they will come down as far as they can on him."