House raid in Chinese murder hunt

The couple recently visited Alnwick Castle in Northumberland

Police have raided a house doors away from where two Chinese students were murdered on Tyneside.

Officers executed a search warrant on Thursday morning at the property in Croydon Road, Newcastle.

No arrests were made, but police said a number of people were being questioned as potential witnesses.

The mutilated bodies of Zhen Xing Yang and girlfriend Xi Zhou, both 25, were found in a flat they shared in Croydon Road on 9 August.

Mr Yang had been tortured before being stabbed to death. The couple's cat was also drowned by their killers.

Following the raid, a Northumbria Police spokesman said: "No arrests were made. A number of occupants are being interviewed as potential witnesses to the inquiry."

Last week, police also revealed that three people were seen outside the flat shortly before one of the pair was last seen alive.

Police said a witness saw the trio near the flat less than an hour after Ms Zhou was last seen alive.

The female witness said two of the individuals had their backs to her and she could not see what they looked like, or whether they were men or women.

However, she got a good look at one of the three, who she described as a plump man of Chinese appearance in his late 20s or early 30s.

Detectives have already said they believe the killer or killers would have left by the front door of the Croydon Road flat.