PH
A suspect in the slayings of a British actress and her two young sons has told a Ghana court he will return to the UK voluntarily, the court and his lawyer said on Tuesday.
On the first day of an extradition hearing on Tuesday, the head of Arthur Simpson-Kent’s legal team, Justice Srem-Sai, said that his client has decided to return voluntarily and waived his right to challenge the proceedings. Simpson-Kent will remain in custody until a departure date is set, the lawyer said.
When Ghana High Court Judge Merley Wood asked if he had voluntarily made the decision, Simpson-Kent replied “yes,” adding that he had not been coerced into the decision. He first appeared in court on January 12.
State attorney Rebecca Adzalo had earlier informed the court they had received a 200-page extradition order against Simpson-Kent from the British High Commission through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Ghana police arrested the 48-year-old on January 9 in the western coastal town of Butre.
He fled to Ghana after speaking to detectives in Britain on December 16 following the killings of his partner, former EastEnders actress Sian Blake, and her sons 8-year-old Zachary and 4-year-old Amon.
Blake, 43, appeared in the long-running East-Ender’s soap opera in 1996-1997.
