Police confirm severed head found in Hackney canal belongs to ex-Eastenders actress Gemma McCluskie

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The head of former EastEnders actress Gemma McCluskie has been found in a canal, Scotland Yard confirmed today.

Her headless and limbless body was discovered in Regent's Canal in Hackney, east London in March this year.

Subsequently other body parts were found, but it was only on Sunday that members of the public discovered a bag in the water at Kingsland Basin that contained a head.

Today police confirmed that they had identified the 29-year-old using dental records, and her family have been told.

Her brother Tony McCluskie, 35, from east London, is due to face trial for her murder at the Old Bailey in November.

All of her body has now been found and a post mortem was carried out on Tuesday but did not give a cause of death. Investigators are waiting for the results of further tests.

The canal is being searched for items of Miss McCluskie's personal property.

PA