COP Mr Prosper Agblor (2nd left), the Director-General of the CID, addressing the media at a press briefing in Accra. Those with him are Jon Goulding (extreme right) of the National Crime Agency of the British High Commission; Detective Chief Inspector Graeme Gwyu (left) and Detective Paul Lapthorn (2nd right), both of the Metropolitan Police of the New Scotland Yard.

GABRIEL AHIABOR

Fugitive arrested : He allegedly murdered girlfriend, 2 children in London

Mary Mensah Jan - 10 - 2016 , 22:23 3 minutes read

A 49-year-old British/Ghanaian citizen, Arthur Simpson-Kent, who allegedly murdered his girlfriend and two children in Erith in London and sought refuge in Ghana has been arrested by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service.

The alleged murderer was arrested by a team of police detectives from the Homicide Unit of the CID, led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mr Hanson Gove, at his hideout in a thicket at Butre, near the Busua Beach Resort in the Western Region, on Saturday, January 9, 2016.

Suspect arrested

The suspect, on realising that the police were getting closer to his hideout, came out, pulled a knife and threatened to stab anybody who came closer to him. But he was disarmed and arrested.

Simpson-Kent is currently in the custody of the CID, awaiting an official request from the British government via the diplomatic channel for his extradition to the United Kingdom to face trial.

Briefing the media in Accra yesterday, the Director General of the CID, COP Mr Prosper Agblor, said on Thursday, January 7, 2016, the police received a request from the National Crime Agency (NCA) through INTERPOL Manchester and the British High Commission in Accra for assistance to arrest the suspect.

Murderer fled
He said Simpson-Kent, born on May 16, 1967, fled the UK to Ghana after allegedly murdering his long-time girlfriend, Sian Blake, aged 43, a former East Enders actress, and their two children — Zachary, aged eight, and Amon, four.

According to the CID boss, information had it that the suspect, while escaping from the UK, travelled to Glasgow in Scotland, from where he flew to Ghana via Amsterdam on December 19, 2015.

He said enquiries made at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) confirmed that Simpson-Kent had arrived in the country on December 19, 2015, but further investigations by the police revealed that he had entered December 7, 2015 on his disembarkation form as the date on which he had arrived in Ghana.

Team of detectives
Mr Agblor said following the request from their British counterparts, the CID put together a team of detectives to search for and arrest the fugitive, who was believed to be hiding in the Western Region.

The team arrived in the Western Region in the evening of Friday, January 8, 2016 and intelligence gathered on the ground in the early hours of Saturday, January 9, 2016 led the team to Butre and Busua in the region.

Two communities
With the assistance of the chiefs and the people of the two communities, as well as the local police, an intensive search was mounted for the fugitive, who was eventually smoked out from a thicket near Butre where he was hiding, armed with a knife.

For his part, Detective Chief Inspector Graeme Gwyn of the Metropolitan Police Scotland Yard, who led the British team of investigators, expressed the appreciation of the British government and the family of the deceased woman and her children to the Ghana Police Service for swiftly arresting the suspect.

Under investigations
He said the case was currently under investigations in the UK and, therefore, declined to make any further comments on the matter. But he gave an assurance that the cause of justice would be served.

British newspapers carried the story about a former EastEnders actress who was killed, along with her two young sons, for planning to leave the boyfriend.

Blake had planned to leave Simpson-Kent in the week before Christmas but she was reported missing to police on December 16, last year.

Body found
The body of the actress and her sons were found buried in the garden of their home on Tuesday.

Simpson-Kent had been described as a member of a black supremacist cult.

Neighbours said his mother, who lives in Wales, had left for her annual winter break in the sun about the same time.

Investigations
Meanwhile, Scotland Yard is being investigated by the police watchdog in the UK for the three-week delay in launching a full-scale search for the family.

Ms Blake was last seen with her sons having visited her mother’s home in Leyton, East London, on December 13.