Gemma McCluskie: Brother Tony guilty of murder and jailed for life

Wednesday, January 30, 2013
3:59 PM

Tony McCluskie has been jailed for life after he was today convicted of the murder of his sister, Gemma McCluskie.

Gemma McCluskie.'s brother has been found guilty of her murder. Picture: Metropolitan Police

The 36-year-old window cleaner was handed a minimum 20-year term at the Old Bailey after killing the ex-EastEnders actress after a row over an overflowing sink at their flat in Shoreditch.

McCluskie denied murder but admitted manslaughter, claiming to have lost control after a tirade of abuse from his sister. Jurors found him guilty of the offence.

During the trial, he said the last thing he remembered was her coming at him with a knife.

But the prosecution said he killed his 29-year-old sister after she lost patience with him and asked him to leave the flat in Pelter Street in March last year.

Miss McCluskie was killed by being hit over the head at least twice and her body was hacked into six pieces using a cleaver and a knife.

Six separate parts of her body were found in the Regent’s Canal, with her torso popping out of a suitcase, her limbs emerging later, and head turning up in September.

Alison Saunders, London’s Chief Crown Prosecutor, said: “This was an extremely distressing and violent case. McCluskie used all means possible to divert suspicion away from himself, giving false hope to family and friends.

After committing the crime on March 1 2012, he filed a missing persons report and gave false information to the police.

“The strong case against McCluskie led to him admitting unlawfully killing his sister and he pleaded guilty to manslaughter, saying it was not intentional and that he had lost control.

“But the prosecution did not accept his plea to manslaughter.

“We felt that the evidence of brutality showed a deliberate intent to cause death or serious bodily harm to Gemma, which amounts to murder.”