British fugitive and Wife Killer repatriated to London

The 48-year-old British fugitive, who allegedly murdered his girl­friend and two children in the United Kingdom (UK) and fled to Ghana, was arrested on suspicion of murder when he arrived at the Heathrow Airport in London on Friday. Arthur Simpson-Kent was repatriated to London on Thursday, February 11, 2016. He agreed to be extradited to the UK when he appeared in court in Accra, Ghana. He is accused of murdering his girlfriend, Sian Blake, and their two children – Zachery, 8 and Amon 4, – in Erith, UK. The East Enders actress and her two sons disappeared on December 13 last year and their bodies were later reportedly found buried in the garden of their family home in Erith on January 5, 2016. He was reported to have fled to Ghana after the alleged murder.

On January 9, he was arrested whilst living on a coconut plantation at Busua in the Western Region of Ghana and transferred to Accra for prosecution. Mr Simpson-Kent was put before a Kaneshie Magistrate Court and remanded into the custody of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI). His request for voluntary extradition to the UK to face the law was announced by his counsel, Justice Srem-Sai, at the Accra high court, after state prosecutors said they had received a formal request from the UK for his extradition.

 A State Attorney, Ms. Rebecca Adjalo, told the court investigations were ongoing and that a team from the Metropolitan Police in UK was in Ghana working with local officers to ensure the extradition of the Simpson-Kent. Adjalo prayed the court to re­mand him in BNI custody while the necessary processes were put in place because the laws of the country allowed for the extradition of the accused.

The court, presided over by Rosemond Agyiri Duodowa, remanded the accused into BNI custody until January 26, and asked the prosecutor to ensure that he (accused) had access to his counsel while in custody. He was repatriated after the processes on Thursday and arrived in London on Friday. A UK Met Police spokesperson told The Mirror that “Detectives from the Homicide and Major Crime Command have this morning, Friday, 12 February, arrested Arthur Simpson-Kent on suspicion of the murders of Sian Blake and her children, Zachery and Amon in Erith. “Simpson-Kent was arrested at Heathrow Airport after arriving in the UK on a flight from Ghana. “He is currently in police custody at a west London police station.”