Boyfriend of British Soap Star Sian Blake Arrested in Heathrow Airport for Murder of Blake and Their Children

Scotland Yard detectives arrested the boyfriend of murdered Eastenders star Sian Blake at Heathrow Airport on Friday immediately after he was extradited back to the UK from Ghana.

About five weeks ago, the bodies of the actress and the couple's two children were discovered in the rear garden of their home in Erith, Kent.

A statement released by Scotland Yard Friday morning confirmed that authorities "arrested Arthur Simpson-Kent on suspicion of the murders of Sian Blake and her children Zachary and Amon" shortly after he had stepped off a flight from Ghana.

The hair stylist had flown to the West African state three days after he was questioned by the British police about the disappearance of the soap actress and their sons Zachary, 8, and Amon, 4. He was arrested on a remote beach in Ghana on Jan. 9, and in subsequent court appearances in the Ghanaian capital Accra, he waved his extradition rights to voluntarily return to the UK.

"He is currently in police custody at a west London police station," the Scotland Yard release continues.

Boyfriend of British Soap Star Sian Blake Arrested in Heathrow Airport for Murder of Blake and Their Children| Crime & Courts, Murder, True Crime
Boyfriend of British Soap Star Sian Blake Arrested in Heathrow Airport for Murder of Blake and Their Children| Crime & Courts, Murder, True Crime
Boyfriend of British Soap Star Sian Blake Arrested in Heathrow Airport for Murder of Blake and Their Children| Crime & Courts, Murder, True Crime
Boyfriend of British Soap Star Sian Blake Arrested in Heathrow Airport for Murder of Blake and Their Children| Crime & Courts, Murder, True Crime

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The arrest of Simpson-Kent, 48, signals the end of a Scotland Yard murder investigation that begun as a missing persons inquiry after Blake and her sons disappeared on December 13, 2015. Despite the fact that the family home in Erith, Kent was searched shortly afterwards, the three bodies were not discovered in the rear garden until 20 days later.

The investigation has since been criticized about this delay and referred to the Police Complaints Commission, which will assess if anything could have been done differently.

Postmortem examinations have concluded that Blake – who played soul singer Frankie Perrie in the hit BBC soap opera – and her two children died as a result of serious head and neck injuries. According to the police report "significant attempts had been made to conceal the bodies."

Simpson-Kent will be tried in front of a jury at a higher Crown Court at a date that is yet to be decided. He has yet to enter a plea to the charges against him.