Sian Blake: Partner Arthur Simpson-Kent arrested in Ghana over triple murder of Eastenders actress and children

Arthur Simpson-Kent gives himself up after hiding between rocks on a beach when police called out his name

The suspected killer of ex-EastEnders actress Sian Blake has been arrested in Ghana, police have said.

Arthur Simpson-Kent gave himself up after hiding between rocks on a beach when police called out his name.

He had fled the UK following police questioning after his partner, Sian Blake, 43, and their two sons, Zachary, eight, and four-year-old Amon disappeared.

Sian Blake was last seen on 13 December (PA)

A murder investigation, launched almost three weeks after the trio were last seen on December 13, found their bodies in the garden of the family home in Erith Kent, on Tuesday.

All three had died as a result of head and neck injuries, it was reported.

According to the BBC, locals who knew he was wanted by police had notified the police of his location.

Interpol, the international crime fighting agency, had put out an international alert for his arrest on Thursday and Met offices arrives in Ghana on Friday.

He was caught in the village of Butre, two days after the Ghanaian police had begun their search, according to the Mail on Sunday.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “Detectives have today, Saturday 9 January, been made aware of an arrest in Ghana.

Arthur Simpson-Kent on his arrival at Kotoka Airport in Accra, Ghana (ITV News/PA Wire)

The Mirror reported 10 armed police officers descended on the area Simpson-Kent was known to be hiding, in a coastal town.

He was found with a knife in his possession, but it had not been used in a threatening way.

Pictures showed him in dirty jeans and a t-shirt, with his armed handcuffed behind him, sat on a stool and surrounded by police and local villagers who had joined the man-hunt.

Simpson-Kent is expected to be flown back to the UK for questioning within a few days.

The case is being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission over questions raised at Scotland Yard’s handling of the case, after it took three weeks to find the bodies.

Ms Blake had motor neurone disease – an illness which affects the brain and spinal cord – and was reported as looking very frail by neighbours in the days before she disappeared.

Her family spoke out about how Ms Blake had wanted to leave her boyfriend.

She had played Frankie Peirre in the popular BBC soap between 1996 and 1997.