Couple guilty of murder after nanny Sophie Lionnet's burned remains found in the garden
A delusional couple have been found guilty of killing their French nanny over a bizarre obsession with an ex-Boyzone popstar.
In a plot described as 'stranger than fiction' 35-year-old Sabrina Kouider built a warped fantasy around songwriter Mark Walton and accused her nanny, Sophie Lionnet of being in league with him.
In the weeks leading up to her death in September last year, the shy 21-year-old au pair was beaten, starved and subjected to water torture. The ill-treatment was inflicted on her in a bid to get her to confess to plotting with a man she had never even met.
After Miss Lionnet died in the bath, Kouider and her co-accused tried to dispose of her body by burning it in the garden of their home in Southfields in south west London.
They then lit a barbecue and cooked chicken to try and mask the smell. When the charred remains were uncovered by firefighters Kouider and her co accused Ouissem Medouni told them it was the carcass of a sheep.
Kouider claimed to police that Miss Lionnet had run off with Mr Walton in an attempt to frame him for her disappearance.
The defendants later admitted disposing of her body but denied Miss Lionnet's murder.
Kouider claimed to police that Miss Lionnet had run off with Mr Walton in an attempt to frame him for her disappearance.
The defendants later admitted disposing of her body but denied Miss Lionnet's murder. Throughout the trial they tried to blame one another.
At first Medouni claimed Miss Lionnet had hit her head in the bath and died by accident after he punched her during an interrogation.
He offered to admit manslaughter but later retracted his confession, saying he made it to protect his wife, who has been diagnosed with a borderline personality disorder.
An Old Bailey jury found Sabrina Kouider and Ouissem Medouni guilty of murder following a two-month trial.
The defendants made a truly odd couple with a unique bond that has kept them together on and off for many years.
The jury decided what really mattered is that together they were a truly toxic combination.