Catching a Killer: A Knock at the Door

Series 1

Review

by Alison Graham

Hang Yin Leung, who ran a Chinese takeaway with her husband in Milton Keynes, answered a knock on her door. It was a group of balaclava-clad men who forced their way into the family home. Hang Yin, who was in her 60s, was pinned to the floor and one of the robbers held his hand over her mouth to stop her screaming. The house was trashed in the search for cash and jewellery.

Just days later, as the victim gave police a statement, she appeared to fall asleep on the interview room table. She was taken to hospital, where she later died. This was now a murder inquiry.

This excellent, heartbreaking documentary is admirable in not losing sight of the fact that Hang Yin was a person with a life and a family who loved her. But the investigation is long and difficult and detectives hope for a breakthrough.

Summary

Cameras follow Thames Valley Police's investigation into the murder of 64-year-old Hang Yin Leung, who died after being violently assaulted during a burglary at her Milton Keynes home in January 2017. Filmed over 12 months, the programme interweaves the police's enquiries with an intimate portrait of a British-Chinese family coming to terms with the impact of murder, with the story of migrants from Hong Kong who came to the UK in search of a better life for their son unfolding alongside the hunt for the killers.