I killed her, says brother of Eastenders actress found dead in canal
Saturday 8 december 2012 tHe brother of former EastEnders actress Gemma McCluskie, who was found dead in a canal, pleaded guilty yesterday to her manslaughter.
tony McCluskie, 35, claims to have “suffered loss of control” before her death on 1 March.
prosecutors are still waiting for a medical report to establish how she died.
McCluskie appeared at the Old Bailey by video link from Belmarsh prison. His father, tony snr, watched from the back of the court as he was asked to enter his pleas.
McCluskie, wearing a dark suit, pleaded not guilty to murder followed by a guilty plea to manslaughter.
Judge Gerald Gordon said that this meant a trial on the issue of murder or manslaughter would go ahead on 14 January before Mr Justice Fulford.
An expert on amnesia is expected to be called by the defence.
Judge was told that Miss McCluskie’s body was found in the Regent’s Canal in east London in March.
A trial was due to take place last month but had to be put off because her head was discovered in the water at Kingsland Basin, north-east London, in september.
Judge Gordon said trial must not be further delayed. He said: “the family must have closure.”
McCluskie
Hack- ney, with his 29-year-old sister and their 56-year-old mother, pauline McCarthy.
In the months leading to her death, Gemma was believed to have been acting as a carer for Ms McCarthy, who had been in hospital for several weeks at the time her daughter vanished.
Gemma was reported missing two days after she was last seen attending the opening of the new £650 million Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London. Her limbless body was seen floating in the water a week later.
Her funeral was held in november, eight months after the discovery of her body.
Miss McCluskie appeared in more than 30 episodes of the BBC soap in 2001 in her role as teenager Kerry skinner. she also had a part as a character named Janis in the children’s comedy show No Sweat during the late 1990s.
the defendant joined friends who launched extensive searches across east London to try to find her.
Former EastEnders co-stars natalie Cassidy and Brooke Kinsella also both appealed on twitter for help.
Kinsella has been a prominent campaigner against knife crime after her 16-year-old brother was fatally stabbed during a night out in Holloway, north London, in 2008.
Another former co-star, Dean Gaffney, whose character was briefly engaged to Gemma’s on the BBC soap, had previously said he was “utterly devastated” at the turn of events.
speaking after the recovery of the body of the actress, the 34-year-old, who played Robbie Jackson between 1993 and 2003, said: “It’s something you see in a movie and there are no words to describe the situation. this was a lovely girl with a heart of gold.”
Bafta award-winning director and actor Adam Deacon also paid tribute to his “great friend” as he remembered how happy Gemma was to land her role in EastEnders.