Sian Blake murder suspect Arthur Simpson-Kent arrested at Heathrow

Arrested at Heathrow: Arthur Simpson-Kent
Reuters
Justin Davenport12 February 2016
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

The former partner of ex-EastEnders actress Sian Blake was arrested at Heathrow airport this morning on suspicion of her murder after arriving on a flight from Ghana.

Arthur Simpson-Kent, 48, was also held on suspicion of the murder of the couple’s two children, Zachary, eight, and Amon, four.

The hairdresser was accompanied by Scotland Yard homicide detectives on the British Airways flight to London and arrested after the plane touched down at 5am.

He was taken to a west London police station.

Sian Blake and her children Zachary, eight, and Amon (right), four

Ms Blake, 43, and her sons vanished on December 13 and were found buried in a shallow grave in the garden of their family home in Erith, Kent, on January 5. They had suffered head and neck injuries.

Simpson-Kent, who has Ghanaian nationality, left the UK days after his family were reported missing.

He is thought to have arrived in Ghana on December 19 and travelled to the beach resort of Busua — a five-hour drive from the capital Accra — where he spent New Year’s Eve at a hotel, according to locals.

Simpson-Kent was arrested by local police in a secluded cove after rumours of his presence circulated around the resort when his image was posted on social media.

He returned to the UK after agreeing to be extradited.

Ms Blake played Frankie Pierre in 56 episodes of EastEnders between 1996 and 1997.

After her role in the BBC soap she appeared in a number of stage and TV roles in shows such as Casualty and more recently did voiceovers and taught sign language to make ends meet. She was suffering from motor neurone disease.

Scotland Yard is under investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission for the way it handled the missing persons inquiry. The watchdog is examining why it took more than three weeks to find the bodies of Ms Blake and her sons.

The back garden of the house in Erith was only thoroughly searched early last month after murder squad detectives were called in.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT