Sian Blake's sister demands actress's boyfriend is 'brought to justice'

The sister of ex-EastEnders actress Sian Blake has demanded her boyfriend Arthur Simpson-Kent is "brought back to justice" amid fears he has fled the country.

Murder squad detectives are trying to find Simpson-Kent after three bodies, believed to be Ms Blake and her sons, Zachary, eight, and Amon, four, were found in the garden of their family home in Erith, Kent, earlier this week.

Ms Blake's sister Ava said Simpson-Kent will have to "answer to God" for his alleged actions as a photograph emerged of him arriving in Ghana.

The image, obtained by ITV News, shows him at Kotoka Airport in the Ghanaian capital Accra three days after he was questioned by police on December 16 about his partner's disappearance.

It is understood a relative of Ms Blake also contacted the NSPCC on December 16 expressing concerns about domestic violence and the information was passed on to the Metropolitan Police and Bexley Council in London that day.

Speaking at Scotland Yard, she said: "Unfortunately I believe Arthur was responsible for my sister and my (nephews') deaths.

"I want him to face justice and explain why. It's my nephews more than anything.

"My brother is angry. My cousins are angry and it's because of the boys.

"They are angry about Sian, but the boys have devastated us. We have lost a generation. We can never replace them.

"I want him to be brought back to justice. He'll have to answer to the courts of this land and to God eventually.

"I don't know what is going through his mind."

Scotland Yard said they were aware of the photo but have refused to confirm reports that Simpson-Kent, 48, has fled to Africa or whether they have contacted Ghanaian police.

"Whether or not he is in the country is one line of inquiry," a spokesman said.

The force has faced questions over why it took police nearly three weeks to find what are feared to be the bodies of Ms Blake and her two sons.

Ms Blake, 43, had motor neurone disease - a fatal, rapidly progressing illness which affects the brain and spinal cord - and was reportedly looking "very frail" before she vanished.

She was last seen with her sons in Waltham Forest, east London on December 13 and officers spoke to Simpson-Kent three days later at the family home in Pembroke Road, Erith.

The case was taken over by homicide detectives on Monday, before the three unidentified bodies were found the next day at the Erith address.

Miss Blake, 51, said her sister had told their mother, Pansy, that she wanted to get out of her relationship "a long time ago".

She said: "In the last year I have to admit my sister was not the vivacious, happy person she once was. She was a lot more quiet.

"She said she would come back, sort of Christmas week, and after Christmas they would arrange about selling the property she lived in.

"In our opinion the relationship had already come to an end but she hadn't quite made that break or that decision to leave Arthur."

Miss Blake said she suspected texts claiming to be from her sister after she disappeared had not been written by her because she did not use "text lingo" and the messages were "poor grammatically" and contained "bad spelling".

The texts claimed Ms Blake was going away "for a few weeks", then it became "a few months", Miss Blake said.

Scotland Yard has referred its handling of the case to the watchdog, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), but Ms Blake's sister said she did not have any criticism of the police investigation.

Breaking down in tears, she added: "I have lost my sister and my nephews. I'm not going to see them grow up.

"I'm going to miss Sian. She was my sister and someone I loved. I was proud of her as an actress. I just wanted the best for her and my nephews."

Ms Blake, who played soul singer Frankie in EastEnders, appeared in the BBC soap for 56 episodes between 1996 and 1997, reportedly quitting because of hostility from viewers towards her manipulative character.