Gemma McCluskie Killed By Brother Tony 'In Row Over Overflowing Sink'

Gemma McCluskie Killed 'Over Row About Taps'

Former EastEnders actress Gemma McCluskie was beaten to death by her brother after a row over an overflowing sink, a court has heard.

After Tony McCluskie left taps on at the flat they shared, his 29-year-old sister was so exasperated she asked her cannabis-smoking brother to leave, as this was the "last straw".

Gemma who had played Kerry Skinner, the niece of Ethel Skinner, in Eastenders, was never seen alive again, the Old Bailey was told.

Gemma McCluskie played Kerry Skinner in EastEnders

Crispin Aylett, QC, prosecuting, said McCluskie killed his sister, cut up her body and dumped it in the Regent's Canal in east London.

McCluskie, 35, of Pelter Street, Shoreditch, east London, has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of his sister but denies murder.

He claims to have "blanked out" after arguing with her and has no recollection of killing her, the court was told.

Four days after Gemma was last heard arguing with her brother a woman navigating her barge on the canal in Hackney, noticed a suitcase floating in the water. It hit the side of the vessel and sprung open.

Inside was a female torso, no legs, no arms and no head.

McCluskie's headless body was discovered in Regent's Canal on March 6, 2012

Miss McCluskie had been identified by a small tattoo of a bow on her body.

Over the next fortnight, her arms and legs were recovered separately from the water.

But her head, which had been dumped in the canal at the same time, was not found until September.

Tony McCluskie led police on a 'wild goose chase'

A forensic anatomy expert believed a cleaver was most likely to have been used to carry out the dismemberment of Miss McCluskie's body over a period of two to three hours, Mr Aylett said.

The court heard how McCluskie had led police on a "wild goose chase" after reporting her missing in March last year.

Mr Aylett said: "For some time, there had been tension between Miss McCluskie and her brother.

"To Gemma, this was largely as a result of the defendant's habitual use of cannabis - and its most toxic form, skunk.

"Gemma told a friend 'He's permanently stoned. He puts a spliff in his mouth first thing in the morning and doesn't know what he's doing'.

"On Thursday March 1, last year, McCluskie had got up, gone to the bathroom and forgotten the taps were on in the sink.

"Unsurprisingly, Miss McCluskie was exasperated by this. She had had enough.

"Later, while she was out, her friends heard her arguing on the telephone with her brother about what had happened.

"It is clear that Gemma regarded this incident as the last straw and that she wanted the defendant to move out."

Mr Aylett said the next day, McCluskie sent his sister a text pretending she was still alive and ending "Love ya xx".

Her friends had grown anxious about her and had not been able to contact her.

"A number of them began calling or sending texts to the defendant asking if he had heard from her," Mr Aylett added.

To one on Saturday night, he replied: "She didn't take the car, keys are on the side in the kitchen plus we wouldn't know if she took any clothes (as) she (has) so many!"

Then he reported her missing to police who from details given to them by McCluskie, categorised her disappearance as low risk.

Police found her severed head in September

On the Sunday, McCluskie told officers that a former boyfriend owed her money and police should speak to him.

One hundred friends held a meeting in a local pub and then went out distributing leaflets appealing for information.

McCluskie did not turn up at the pub until after the meeting had broken up, said Mr Aylett.

Mr Aylett said McCluskie told police that his sister had been seen in a local kebab shop after she went missing, and that she had visited their mother in hospital.

But scientists had found blood in the bathroom and a blood-stained knife in the kitchen of the flat.

Police discovered that a man with a heavy suitcase matching McCluskie's description had taken a minicab to the canal the day after his sister disappeared.

Blood was found in the boot of the car and McCluskie's father and brother "no doubt with heavy hearts" said they recognised him from CCTV.

Mr Aylett continued: "The defendant must have killed Gemma, no doubt in the course of a quarrel.

"He then dismembered her body before disposing of the body parts, including the head, in the canal.

A pathologist had found bruises on Miss McCluskie's arms and legs made before she died.

He had also found cuts to her scalp indicating that she had been struck over the head at least twice with a blunt instrument.

Mr Aylett added: "The defendant claims not to know how he killed his sister.

"He describes having had an argument with Gemma. After that, it is said that everything is a blank.

"He does not remember killing her, nor can he recall cutting her up, nor does he remember dumping her body in the canal."

But this was not accepted by the prosecution.

"No doubt he did it in the heat of the moment, no doubt he soon came to regret what he had done," added Mr Aylett.

"He did everything he could to put himself beyond suspicion."

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