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| Sian Blake death: Arthur Simpson-Kent given life sentence | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The partner of former EastEnders actress Sian Blake has been given a whole life sentence for killing her and their two children. | |
| Arthur Simpson-Kent, 49, stabbed Ms Blake to death along with their sons Zachary, eight, and Anon, four. | |
| The Old Bailey heard he killed them when he learnt Ms Blake was planning to leave him and take their sons away. | |
| Ms Blake had motor neurone disease and would not have been able to defend herself, the court heard. | |
| All three were hit on the head before they were stabbed in the neck or throat with a small axe by Simpson-Kent, who then buried their bodies in the garden last December. | |
| He painted over the blood stains in their bungalow in Erith, south-east London, before fleeing to his native Ghana in January. | |
| Mr Justice Singh said there was "no doubt" that Simpson-Kent should serve the rest of his life in prison. | |
| "In my judgment this was indeed a case where each murder involved a substantial degree of premeditation or planning," he said. | |
| "At the very least that must be true of the murder of each of the two little boys individually, and in turn after the defendant had already killed Sian Blake." | |
| 'Not thinking' | |
| He added there were serious aggravating features as the victims were vulnerable because of age or disability. | |
| The court heard Simpson-Kent told psychiatrist Dr Philip Joseph "something just snapped in me". | |
| He said previously: "I felt as if I had just been pushed off a diving board and was falling." | |
| Simpson-Kent said he grabbed a small axe that was in the kitchen before hitting her repeatedly on the head. | |
| "My mind was blank and I was focusing on doing and not thinking. It was like I was there but not there," he said. | |
| The judge refused Simpson-Kent's claim that he was depressed and had planned on killing himself. | |
| Ms Blake played Frankie Pierre in 56 episodes of EastEnders between 1996 and 1997. She went on to work as a voice-over artist and sign language interpreter. |