Arthur Simpson-Kent admits murder of EastEnders actress Sian Blake and their two children

Mr Simpson-Kent pleaded guilty to three counts of murder over a video link from Belmarsh prison

Arthur Simpson-Kent (Reuters)

Arthur Simpson-Kent has admitted to murdering the ex-EastEnders actress Sian Blake and their two sons, the Old Bailey heard today.

Simpson-Kent, Ms Blake's partner, is now facing life behind bars after he pleaded guilty to three counts of murder over a 10-minute video link from Belmarsh prison.

The bodies of 43-year-old Ms Blake and her sons Zachary, 8, and Amon, 4, were discovered in January buried in the garden of their family home in Erith, south-east London.

They went missing on 13 December last year and died as a result of head and neck injuries.

Simpson-Kent, a 49-year-old hairdresser, only spoke to say the word "guilty" as each of the three murder charges was put to him.

Around five members of Ms Blake's family, including her mum Lyndall and sister Ava, were in court to hear the admission.


 Sian Blake was last seen alive on 13 December last year 
 (PA)

Simpson-Kent was arrested at Heathrow airport after being extradited from Ghana, where he had fled to two weeks before his partner and children's bodies were found.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission, the police watchdog, is investigating the Met over why it took more than three weeks to find the trio.

Ms Blake played Frankie Pierre in 56 episodes of EastEnders between 1996 and 1997. She was suffering from motor neurone disease before she died.