Gemma McCluskie

The brother of East Enders actress Gemma McCluskie will appear at the Old Bailey on Monday (June 18) charged with her murder.

Tony McCluskie, of Pelter Street, Bethnal Green, who has been remanded is custody since being arrested, is accused of killing the 29-year-old before dumping her body in a canal.

Miss McCluskie, who lived with her brother Tony and ill mother Pauline, went missing just hours after she attended the opening of The Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel on March 1.

Her headless torso was discovered in a stretch of the Regent’s Canal near Broadway Marker in Hackney five days later after a barge owner called the police. The body was later confirmed to be that of Ms McCluskie. Her arms and legs have since been found in the Regent’s Canal but her head is still missing, according to police.

The actress appeared in more than 30 episodes of the BBC soap opera as teenage temptress Kerry Skinner in 2001.