'Indomitable' mum died after attack by armed burglars in her Milton Keynes home

“Strong and indomitable” Hang Yin Leung, 64, was so shaken that she fell ill while giving a statement at Milton Keynes police station.

She died in hospital 11 days later. And today an inquest ruled that the violent crime very probably played a role in her death.

Meanwhile the burglary and murder remains unsolved three years on, despite four arrests and a national TV documentary about the case.

Petite 5ft 2in tall Mrs Leung was alone in her house in Orne Gardens, Bolbeck Park, when six balaclava-clad men wearing gloves burst in and threatened her with a pick axe in January 2017.

Her statement, read out at the inquest, said: "Male one pushed me down to the floor of the lounge and used an ice pick to threaten me. I struggled and he used his hand to hit me three to four times to the back of my head.

"They asked me a few times 'money money,' but I did not respond. I was not injured, but my heart was jumping very fast."

“After 15 minutes they came down from upstairs. They asked me a few times ‘Money Money’, but I did not respond. I was not injured, but my heart was jumping very fast.”

The inquest heard she chased the men away from the home. But they had ransacked the house and stolen cash in dollars, jewellery, a Rolex watch and her model from Hong Kong police.

Her son Keith Leung said his mother went through "an horrendous ordeal."

Mrs Leung and her husband Chun Yau came to the UK in 1991 and they ran the Jade Gardens restaurant in Walnut Tree together. The pair had planned to retire, travel the world and settle in Hong Kong.

At the time of the raid, Mrs Leung had been ill with a cold and stayed at home while her husband went to the restaurant.

DC Jenny Champan from Thames Valley Police Major Crime Unit told the inquest the murder case had been “filed” without any person being charged.

She said: “There was no forensic opportunity at the house. No DNA, no fingerprints left at the scene by the suspects. There was no CCTV evidence in the vicinity. House to house inquiries were carried out, but nobody heard anything. We couldn’t show who had been there.”

Four men were arrested, but never charged. In May 2018 Channel 4 broadcast a programme called Catching a Killer, but nobody has been charged.

Three men who had been in a van in the area were traced, but there was not considered to be enough evidence against them. No action was taken against a man who exchanged Canadian and Hong Kong dollars.

Assistant Coroner Adam Smith said: “Hang Yin Leung died at Milton Keynes University Hospital on 11 February 2017 from multiple organ failure as a result of complications of reclusive sheath haematoma.

“She had been admitted to the hospital on 1 February 2017 having become unwell when giving a statement to the police about an assault she had suffered during a burglary the previous day.

“It is probable that the assault played a role in her death.”