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| Cuffed: Simpson-Kent is held after he was found hiding among rocks on a beach in Ghana by a posse of villagers and a handful of police (Image source: mailonline.com) |
Arthur
Simpson-Kent who was wanted by the British Met Police in connection with the
murders of his partner of the EastEnders actress, Sian Blake, and her two sons has been
found and arrested on a beach in Ghana in the coastal resort Busua, two miles
from the village of Butre. He was found by a posse of
villagers and a handful of police.
Daily
Mail UK report continues:
The partner
of the EastEnders actress found dead with their two children was dramatically
arrested in his remote African hideout last night after a tip-off from an
British café owner.
Arthur
Simpson-Kent was found hiding among rocks on a beach in Ghana by a posse of
villagers and a handful of police. They had been alerted by an expat who
realized he was wanted for questioning over the murders of Sian Blake and her
young sons.
The
fugitive was handcuffed and driven in a pick-up truck to a nearby
village.
There
The Mail on Sunday witnessed locals cheering his capture and heard police
chiefs mocking Scotland Yard detectives for failing to find him first.
Simpson-Kent
had been in Ghana since before Christmas after being allowed to leave Britain
by police. Residents of the coastal resort Busua, two miles from the village of
Butre where he was found, say he had made friends locally and celebrated the
New Year wildly at a rooftop party.
London-born
cafe owner Karole Ainoo reported the presence of the fugitive to Scotland Yard
but said she was 'disappointed' officers did not call her before his arrest.
Simpson-Kent
had also allegedly offered to give his iPad, smartphone and cash to a local
craftsman who realized he was wanted for questioning over the murders to stop
him calling police. He said he wanted to buy heroin so he could take a fatal
overdose.
The
capture of Simpson-Kent brings to an end an international manhunt, but will
increase pressure on the Metropolitan Police, who are facing criticism over
their handling of the case.
London-based
detectives had only just arrived in the country and were still hundreds of
miles away in the capital Accra at the time of his arrest.
Questions
were previously asked of the force as they only discovered the bodies of Miss
Blake, along with Zachary, eight, and Amon, four, had been buried in the garden
of their South East London home weeks after their disappearance. They also let
48-year-old Simpson-Kent leave the country after questioning him when they were
still mistakenly treating the case as a missing persons inquiry.
The
Independent Police Complaints Commission watchdog is conducting a 'thorough
investigation' into the case.
Speaking
at the scene of the arrest last night, Deputy Detective Superintendent Hansen
Gove from the Ghanaian police told The Mail on Sunday he was 'incredibly proud
to have brought in a fugitive so quickly and calmly, without injury to anyone.
It will be a great pleasure to report all this to the Met police who arrived
from England last night and have not been anywhere near this area or this
crime. Maybe we could offer some detective training to Scotland Yard?'
Busua
resident Idris Assoumana, who makes and sells arts and crafts, had also
encountered the fugitive in recent weeks and had an hour-long talk with him on
the beach after confronting him over the murders.
'I
told him that there was a murder inquiry about his partner and children and
that their bodies had been found,' Mr Assoumana told this newspaper. 'He was
calm but full of questions about how I knew.'
Mr
Assoumana said Simpson-Kent told him he was suicidal and wanted to 'buy heroin
so he could take an overdose'.
He
then allegedly offered the craftsman his possessions and $500 (£340) cash to
stop him going to the police.
The
43-year-old said he told Simpson-Kent he would have to tell the police – but
despite this the fugitive remained in the area, hiding out in an unnamed a
'bush lodge' in the nearby village of Butre.
Mr
Assoumana said six police officers came to look for Simpson-Kent and they
stayed out until 2am yesterday without any success, but then at 7am there was a
report that he had been spotted in the area, and up to 40 villagers joined the
manhunt.
His bag was found in the empty lodge but a
fisherman said he had been seen swimming in the sea, and when the search party
reached the beach they found him sitting nearby eating a coconut that he had
split open with a knife.
The
group told him he was under arrest for murder and he immediately raised his
hands in surrender, before police handcuffed him and put him in an unmarked
pick-up truck.
In
a convoy alongside marked police cars with blue lights flashing and sirens
wailing, they did a 'victory lap' in Busua in front of a cheering crowd.
The
truck also stopped outside the coffee shop run by Ms Ainoo, who had originally
alerted police to Simpson-Kent's presence in the area.
She
told last night how he had first turned up at her café before Christmas and
seemed a 'very nice gentleman, calm, quietly-spoken with an educated accent'.
They spoke about London as Mrs Ainoo had lived there until recently, and she
thought he seemed 'almost saintly' as he told how he was 'producing marijuana
to help a sick relative with a neurological sickness'.
Miss
Blake, 43, had degenerative motor neurone disease, which affects the brain and
spinal cord, and was reportedly looking 'very frail' before she vanished.
Simpson-Kent
became a regular at the café, claiming he wanted to buy some land in the area,
and also turned up at a New Year's Eve party at the popular African Rainbow
hotel, 'dancing like mad'. But then Mrs Ainoo received a message on the
WhatsApp social network from a UK-based friend who knew she had emigrated to
Ghana from her former home in Halifax, West Yorkshire, last year. It included a
link to a BBC report about Simpson-Kent.
'I
had seen my phone flashing around 1am and was shocked out of my mind when I
realised the picture was him. I woke my husband up and we agreed we must go to
the police.' She said they spent the night trying to find a way to contact
Scotland Yard and Interpol, eventually using her friend in Britain to get in
touch.
'I
had waited for days for the British police to turn up and talk to me since I
clearly knew so much about him and his location. They apparently arrived on
Friday night and they still never came near my village, or even called me.
'Soon
after his arrest I got a call from the Met and I told them I was so
disappointed not to have been contacted by any of their officers.
'It
was all down to Ghana police and Busua village and my friend Idris, and I'm so
proud of them.
'When
I asked the Met officer why they hadn't done this work themselves he told me
they didn't have the powers, it had to be local police, there was too much red
tape. I said, 'What about Interpol?' and he said, 'They are mainly just guys
sitting in an office somewhere, just liaising.'
'I
told him that local people were heroes in my eyes, as well as the Ghana police
who acted so fast and efficiently without any of the Met's funding and
resources.'
Last
night Scotland Yard said: 'Detectives have today been made aware of an arrest
in Ghana. We are currently working alongside the Ghanaian authorities but are
not in a position to discuss further.'
Detectives
are likely to fly back to the UK with Simpson-Kent later this week.
British
cafe owner: He said he was helping a sick relative...looking back, it's
chilling
When
the polite, quietly spoken Englishman walked into her coffee shop in a small
town in Ghana two days before Christmas, Karole Ainoo was delighted.
Like
him, she was a Londoner. She had moved to Busua with her husband in early 2014
but missed home.
'My
husband came into the kitchen and mentioned the customer was British. So I
naturally popped out to say hello to him,' she said yesterday.
Arthur
Simpson-Kent was sitting at the communal table sipping a double espresso.
Karole
recalled: 'He and I ended up sitting on the sofa, engrossed in conversation.
'He
seemed like a very nice gentleman – calm, quietly spoken with an educated
accent. He looked like he wouldn't hurt a fly.'
He
told Karole he'd had enough of England because of racism and was planning to
move to Ghana.
He
came into the shop, called The Cafe, every day after that. Simpson-Kent talked
about marijuana. 'He told me he could extract effective herbal medication
straight from cannabis. He said he'd researched it himself and was producing
marijuana to help a sick relative with a neurological sickness. It seemed
almost saintly to me.
'Looking
back, I find this absolutely chilling.'
On
New Year's Eve, Karole saw Simpson-Kent in the street.
She
said: 'He gave me a strong handshake, like he didn't want to ever let go, and
he pulled me close to him in a way that was too close for comfort.'
Later
she bumped into him at a celebration, when he was 'partying like mad' as though
he 'might have taken something'.
On
New Year's Day, Simpson-Kent brought two Ghanaian girls, aged about 20 who were
on holiday from Britain, into the cafe for breakfast.
Then
last Wednesday one of Karole's friends in London sent her a link to a BBC
report and picture about 'this man wanted for murder'.
Karole
said: 'I was shocked out of my mind when I realized the picture was him. I
couldn't believe he was still using the name Arthur Simpson. I woke my husband
up and we agreed we must go to the police.'
She
alerted her friend in London who promised to contact Scotland Yard. Yet it
would be days before British detectives turned up in Ghana. In the meantime,
Karole continued to see Simpson every day.
Karole said: 'The British
police were still refusing to confirm he was in Ghana. And all the time I could
see him in the street. I knew where he was all along – in my cafe and in my
village.'
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