The brother of EastEnders actress Gemma McCluskie has gone on trial at the Old Bailey today charged with her murder.
McCluskie, 35, entered the dock wearing black glasses, white shirt, tie and dark grey suit.
He is accused of murdering Gemma McCluskie on March 1 last year. A plea of manslaughter has not been accepted by the prosecution.
The jury is currently being sworn in.
Deliberations have been taking place between the judge, prosecution and defence before evidence is presented to the jury.
McCluskie pleaded guilty to manslaughter at an earlier hearing but denies murder.
Gemma’s other brother Danny McCluskie and other members of her family are in the public gallery.
Gemma, 29, who played Kerry Skinner in the BBC soap in 2001, was cremated at the City of London Crematorium in Manor Park on December 12, after a funeral procession from her home at Pelter Street, Bethnal Green, where she lived with her brother Tony, and a service at St Monica’s Church in Hoxton where she had been baptised.
Her torso was found in the Regent’s Canal last March. Her head was discovered in the canal in September. She went missing after attending the opening of the new £650 million Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel.
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