Sian Blake: Man given whole life sentence for murdering Eastenders actress partner and two sons

Arthur Simpson-Kent, 49, told a psychiatrist after his arrest that he used a small axe to bludgeon his three victims, the court heard

Simpson-Kent attempted to escape justice by fleeing to Ghana (PA)

Arthur Simpson-Kent has been given a whole life prison sentence for the murder of former Eastenders actress Sian Blake and their two sons.

The 49-year-old hairdresser stabbed to death his former partner and their sons Zachary, aged eight and four year-old Anon, earlier this year.

The Old Bailey heard that Simpson-Kent killed them after learning Ms Blake planned to leave him taking their children with her.

Ms Blake, 43, who had motor-neurone disease, would have been unable to defend herself or her sons.

Simpson-Kent told a psychiatrist after his arrest that he used a small axe to bludgeon his three victims unconscious before using a knife, the court heard.

Mr Justice Singh told the court: "In my judgment this was indeed a case where each murder involved a substantial degree of premeditation or planning.

"At the very least that must be true of the murder of each of the two little boys individually, and in turn after the defendant had already killed Sian Blake.

"Further, and in any event, there were serious aggravating features of this case."

Simpson-Kent repainted the house in an effort to remove evidence of the crime in addition to sending messages from Sian Blake's mobile phone, the Judge stated.

The bodies of Ms Blake and her sonswere discovered in January buried in the garden of their family home in Erith, south-east London.

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.