EASTENDERS MURDER HUNT
Search for boyfriend as police find bodies of actress and sons
A FORMER EastEnders actress and her two young sons were found buried in their back garden yesterday, three weeks after they were reported missing. The partially decomposed bodies of Sian Blake and sons Zachary, eight, and Amon, four, were discovered by police who had searched the property 19 days ago.
Scotland Yard are hunting Arthur Simpson-Kent, Miss Blake’s partner and the father of her sons.
But officers are bound to face serious questioning over why they did not find the bodies when they initially visited the family’s bungalow in Erith, South East London, on December 18.
They broke a window to get in, but found nothing.
The case has been referred to Scotland Yard’s Directorate of Professional Standards, which will investigate the way officers handled the inquiry.
It will focus on why it took so long to find the bodies and why it took more than two weeks to issue a missing persons appeal for Miss Blake, 43 – who was seriously ill with motor neurone disease – and her two young children.
Neighbours said Miss Blake, who played home- wrecker Frankie Pierre i n the BBC soap in the mid-1990s, appeared thin and frail, and feared her health was
deteriorating rapidly. She and her sons had last been seen during a visit to relatives in Leyton, East London, on December 13.
Three days later, after an organisation raised the alarm, police officers spoke to Mr Simpson-Kent at the family home.
After this, Miss Blake and the two children were officially registered as missing.
Texts which had been sent from Miss Blake’s phone said she wanted to be alone with her children for her last Christmas.
Mr Simpson-Kent, 48, a hairdresser in the fashion industry, was classed as a ‘high-risk missing person’ subsequently when police found they could not get hold of him.
Officers made almost daily door-todoor inuiries with neighbours – with one telling them that they had spotted Mr Simpson- Kent removing what appeared to be full bin-liners from the bungalow.
However, it took police more than two weeks to issue a public appeal for information relating to the whereabouts of Miss Blake and the boys.
No mention of Mr Simpson-Kent was made in the first appeal.
The murder squad took over the investigation on Monday after Miss Blake’s silver Renault Scenic was found in Bethnal Green, East London.
It was also the first time that police had put out an appeal for information on the whereabouts of Mr Simpson-Kent, who was married and has a daughter from a previous relationship.
On his business website, he claims to have worked as a hairdresser for Versace, Armani and Chanel.
Last night Miss Blake’ s family lit candles outside their East London terraced home and were being comforted by friends and other relatives.
Neighbours said that Miss Blake had been taken to hospital on several occasions before her disappearance but added that the family appeared to be looking forward to Christmas and had put up a tree in the lounge.
One neighbour, who asked to remain anonymous, said: ‘I feel disgusted that this has happened.
‘I was here when the police came on the 16th.
‘They came back every day since, knocking on the door, asking people questions.
‘They broke a window at one stage and got in the house to look around and today they did the same but this
‘She was a lovely neighbour’
time they’ ve obviously found something.
‘Sian was lovely. She was a really great neighbour.’
John Waterhouse, 65, a Thames waterman, said Miss Blake appeared withdrawn in recent weeks.
‘It’s terrible news, just terrible,’ he said.
Sammy Sanni-Alashe, 52, said: ‘I can’t believe this news. She always used to be playing in the garden with the children. I can’t believe someone would do this to them.
Police officers were seen entering the bungalow, which Miss Blake and Mr Simpson-Kent bought in 2011, with spades yesterday and later three bodies were carried out in coffins.
Detective Superintendent Paul Monk said: ‘ As yet, we have not formally identified the bodies but this is of course a significant development and Sian’s family have been informed. Our thoughts are with Sian’s family.’
Scotland Yard said the case had not been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
The case follows that of 12-year-old Tia Sharp.
Met officers twice missed her body, which had been hidden in the attic, when they searched the house of killer Stuart Hazell in South London, in 2012.
Miss Blake used the stage name Syan Blake.
Her big acting break came when she landed the role of Frankie Pierre in June 1996.
Her character frequently pursued attached men. She left the soap the following year because of hostility from viewers over her manipulative character.
She subsequently appeared in episodes of The Bill, Casualty, Doctors and Skins, as well as in stage roles, before becoming a sign language teacher.
Miss Blake’s death is not the first tragedy to hit the show.
EastEnders actress Gemma McCluskie, 29 – who played Kerry Skinner – was murdered in March 2012.
Her brother Tony McCluskie, 36, battered her to death after a furious row over his addiction to skunk cannabis.
He then used knives and a meat cleaver to cut off her limbs and head before dumping the parts separately in a canal.
CCTV footage showed him bundling a heavy suitcase into the back of a taxi. When the driver asked him what was in it, he replied: ‘My sister’.
He was jailed for life, and told he would serve a minimum sentence of 20 years.