Two double murder suspects bailed

Xi Zhou and Zhen Xing Yang had studied at Newcastle University

Two of three men arrested on suspicion of the murder a Chinese couple in Newcastle have been bailed by police.

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

Two men, aged 22 and 33, were bailed on Friday after being arrested in raids in Newcastle and Morpeth the previous day.

Police have been granted a further 36 hours to question a 30-year-old man. Fourteen other people arrested in the raids have been bailed.

All those arrested are described as Chinese nationals.

Cat drowned

A man and a woman were held on suspicion of assisting an offender.

A further 12 people were arrested over burglary or immigration offences.

The couple were found dead in separate bedrooms at the downstairs flat by friends.

Mr Yang was tortured for more than an hour before being stabbed to death.

Examinations also showed Miss Zhou may have been asphyxiated as well as stabbed during the attack.

The couple's cat was also drowned by their killers.