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Sian Blake's partner killed her after she decided to leave him, court told Sian Blake's partner killed her after she decided to leave him, court told
(about 1 hour later)
A former EastEnders actor and her two young sons were brutally battered and stabbed to death by her partner after she decided to leave him, a court has heard. A former EastEnders actor and her two young sons were bludgeoned and stabbed to death by her partner after she decided to leave him, a court has heard.
Arthur Simpson-Kent killed Sian Blake, 43, and their sons, Zachary, eight, and four-year-old Amon, in the family home before burying their bodies in the back garden. Arthur Simpson-Kent has admitted killing Sian Blake, 43, and their sons, eight-year-old Zachary and four-year-old Amon, in the family home in Erith, south-east London before burying their bodies in the back garden, misleading family and friends and fleeing to Ghana.
The Old Bailey was told that Blake, the family’s main breadwinner, had recently been diagnosed with terminal motor neurone disease. All three victims had been hit on the head and then stabbed in the neck or throat, medical examinations revealed.
This, along with her “unhealthy” relationship with Simpson-Kent, led her to plan to take the children and move back in with her mother. Family members wept as Mark Heywood QC, prosecuting, told the packed court that Simpson-Kent had carried out the premeditated attack on his three victims who had been “unable to defend themselves”.
The court heard that Blake’s condition had weakened her arms and hands to the extent that she would not have been able to fight off an attacker. Blake – who played Frankie Pierre in 56 episodes of EastEnders between 1996 and 1997 – had planned to leave their “unhealthy” relationship and move in with her mother. She had been diagnosed with terminal motor neurone disease, which would have left her unable to fend off her partner’s blows.
Mark Heywood QC, prosecuting, told the court that Simpson-Kent had carried out the premeditated attack on three victims who had been “unable to defend themselves” after becoming aware of Blake’s plan. It was undisputed that on 14 December 2015 Simpson-Kent “killed each of them in turn with heavy, deliberate, repeated blows with a blunt instrument not since recovered – and then by cutting and stabbing them with a bladed weapon in a way that ensured their deaths,” said Heywood.
Medical examinations showed all three victims had been hit on the head and then stabbed in the neck or throat. “He then covered his crimes by moving, wrapping and burying each of them, cleaning and partially painting his home. He misled friends, family and the police, among others, as to what he had done and where his partner and children had gone.”
Heywood said: “The evidence suggests, and this much is not disputed, that, on the night of 14 December 2015, the defendant killed each of them in turn with heavy, deliberate, repeated blows with a blunt instrument not since recovered – and then by cutting and stabbing them with a bladed weapon in a way that ensured their deaths. Bloodstains belonging to Blake and the two boys were later found at the family’s bungalow before their bodies were discovered outside.
“He then covered his crimes by moving, wrapping and burying each of them, and cleaning and partially painting his home. Simpson-Kent, 49, fled to his native Ghana before being extradited to the UK. He told police in Accra that he killed his partner and children as part of an agreed murder-suicide pact because of Blake’s terminal illness and his poor relationship with her family, but the prosecution argues that there is no evidence to support this. Simpson-Kent faces a possible whole-life sentence for the triple killing.
“He misled friends, family and the police, among others, as to what he had done and where his partner and children had gone.” The court heard that the murders happened the day after Blake visited her mother Lindell Blake and asked if she, Simpson-Kent and the boys could move in with her in Leyton, east London.
Bloodstains belonging to Blake and the two boys were later found at the bungalow, before their bodies were discovered outside. Blake appeared to accept her mother’s refusal to house Simpson-Kent, Heywood said. It was the last time she was seen by her family.
Members of Blake’s family wept in court as the case was opened in front of a packed public gallery. He said: “Although no firm arrangement was made, the understanding was that she and the children would move over the coming holiday period, Christmas, even though she had originally requested a delay until the spring.”
She played Frankie Pierre in 56 episodes of EastEnders between 1996 and 1997. In the days following her death, Blake’s family received texts from her mobile phone saying she had gone away. One sent to her sister Ava read: “I’m taking time to myself and my children without constant opinions from family and friends.
In an statement read to the court, Blake’s mother, Lindell Blake, said the family have lived a “life sentence” of pain and sorrow since she and her two sons were brutally murdered by the “monster” Simpson-Kent. “I have had enough of appeasing everyone. We are away and I will not be calling or speaking to anyone for a few months.”
Mrs Blake said the family continued to suffer the impact of the killing of her “beautiful daughter” and her “angel” grandsons. The prosecution said Simpson-Kent sent the messages in “a deliberate attempt to mislead”.
She said: “It’s difficult to put into words how much we have suffered as a result of their murder and how we will continue to suffer for the rest of our lives. Simpson-Kent sat impassively in the dock wearing a maroon sweatshirt, occasionally shutting his eyes.
“We are all living a life sentence; we are all living a nightmare.
“I would give my life for another moment with my daughter. Time is supposed to be a great healer but our wounds are open and bare for everyone to see.
“We have scars where Arthur has taken what was not his to take.”
Simpson-Kent, 49, who fled to his native Ghana before being extradited back to the UK, faces a possible whole-life sentence after admitting the triple killing in Erith, south-east London.
The defendant told police in Accra that he killed them as part of an agreed murder-suicide pact because of Blake’s terminal illness and his poor relationship with her family.
The prosecution says there is no evidence this is true.
The court heard that the murders happened the day after Blake visited her mother on 13 December and asked to move in with Simpson-Kent and the boys.
When Mrs Blake said that Simpson-Kent could not, her daughter “appeared to accept it”, Heywood said.
He added: “Her family encouraged her to move sooner or later. Although no firm arrangement was made, the understanding was that she and the children would move over the coming holiday period, Christmas, even though she had originally requested a delay until the spring.
“That was the last time Sian Blake was directly seen alive by family members.”
In the days following her death, her family received texts from her mobile phone saying she had gone away.
One sent to her sister Ava read: “I’m taking time to myself and my children without constant opinions from family and friends.”
It added: “I have had enough of appeasing everyone. We are away and I will not be calling or speaking to anyone for a few months.”
The prosecution said Simpson-Kent sent the messages in a “a deliberate attempt to mislead”.
Bearded Simpson-Kent sat impassively in the dock wearing a maroon sweatshirt, occasionally shutting his eyes as the court heard the case against him.
Heywood said that, as police launched a missing persons investigation into Blake and her children, he booked a flight from Glasgow to Accra, via Amsterdam.Heywood said that, as police launched a missing persons investigation into Blake and her children, he booked a flight from Glasgow to Accra, via Amsterdam.
In a message to a friend, he said: “I can’t go into details about what I have done but I only have two choices. Go to Ghana one-way or die.” In a message to a friend, Simpson-Kent said: “I can’t go into details about what I have done but I only have 2 choices. Go to Ghana one way or Die [sic].”
While in the Ghanaian town of Busua, the court heard, he told a local man he “had killed his girlfriend first and then he had killed the two children afterwards”.While in the Ghanaian town of Busua, the court heard, he told a local man he “had killed his girlfriend first and then he had killed the two children afterwards”.
He was seen “really partying” on New Year’s Eve and was spotted taking two young women to a cafe the following morning. He was held by local police days later. He was seen partying on New Year’s Eve and was spotted taking two young women to a cafe the following morning, the court heard. He was held by local police days later.
In a statement read to the Old Bailey, Blake’s mother said: “It’s difficult to put into words how much we have suffered as a result of their murder and how we will continue to suffer for the rest of our lives.
“We are all living a life sentence. We are all living a nightmare. I would give my life for another moment with my daughter.”
She described her daughter as vibrant. She said she “could light up a room with her smile” and that she “was besotted with Zachary and Amon. They completed her.” The family had to live with the knowledge that Blake and her children would have been “scared, terrified, before this monster slaughtered them in their home”.
She said: “Time is supposed to be a great healer, but our wounds are open and bare for everyone to see. We have scars where Arthur has taken what was not his to take.”
Jim Sturman QC, defending, said he was “not a man prone to violence” but had snapped under the pressure of his partner’s illness. He told the court the couple had previously discussed “ending it all” because of her disease, but added: “There was no agreement to kill in this way and it was against this backdrop that the guilty pleas were entered. It is not suggested that the killings were a mercy killing.”
The trial continues.