Parents' plea over double murder

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Parents of the murdered couple made emotional appeals for help

The families of a couple murdered in Newcastle have appealed for help in finding their killers.

The mutilated bodies of Zhen Xing Yang and girlfriend Xi Zhou, both 25, were found in their flat on 9 August.

No arrests have been made despite appeals to the English and Chinese communities on Tyneside and in London.

Xi Zhou's father - speaking through a translator at a police news conference - pleaded for help in getting justice for his daughter.

Shanbao Zhou joined other family members who travelled from China to Tyneside at the weekend to formally identify the bodies of the Newcastle University graduates.

A private cremation was also carried out and the ashes of the pair are to be returned to China.

In a statement, Mr Shanbao said: "When we were informed of the death of our daughter, we almost lost the will to live.

Xi Zhou's father Shanbao Zhou travelled to Tyneside from China

"However, you cannot do that as the murderer of our daughter is still at large.

"I have determination to catch the murderer. I have no doubt the murderer will be arrested and my daughter will have the justice she deserves."

Zhen Xing Yang's mother, Shu Zhen Qu, dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief as she read out a statement in Mandarin, translated by an interpreter.

She said: "We felt as if our hearts had been broken when we lost him in this terrible way.

"While we are here, we ask people with a kind heart to provide information to the police so that they can arrest the murderer as soon as possible.

"It will reassure all the parents who have children studying abroad."

The 52-year-old said the family had spent their life savings to send her son to study in England.

Shu Zhen Qu broke down at the news conference

She added: "My son never caused any trouble. He was a kind and forgiving person. He loved his parents so much.

"Since he left home we have had to work very hard to financially support his study.

"After the Sichuan earthquake he donated a considerable amount of money. He also called home and asked his parents to do the same."

Mr Yang had been tortured at the couple's Croydon Road flat, before being stabbed to death and their cat was also drowned by their killers.

A reconstruction of the last known movements of the couple featured on the BBC's Crimewatch.

But despite what police described as a "good response" from callers, detectives have yet to trace a male lodger and three people seen outside the flat before the killings.