Boyzone founder’s ex ‘killed and burned nanny’
THE ex-girlfriend of one-time Boyzone member Mark Walton has been charged with murdering her nanny and burning her body in her back garden.
Sabrina Kouider hired 21year-old Sophie Lionnet to look after her children, including a son she had with Mr Walton, and allegedly paid the nanny the equivalent of just €56 a month.
Police were called to Ms Kouider’s £900,000 London apartment after they were alerted to the grisly scene by an eight-year-old boy on Wednesday.
Locals had noticed ‘foul-smelling smoke’ emanating from Ms Kouider’s home – in the suburb of Southfields – as they took their children home from school. A curious boy raised the alarm after scaling a gate into the apartment’s garden and seeing a bonfire with a man throwing what he thought were ‘sticks’ on the flames.
Officers arrived at 6.30pm and discovered a body that was so badly burned they could not establish her age or even gender.
However, Kouider’s live-in nanny Ms Lionnet has been declared missing after telling her parents on Monday she was returning to the family home in France.
Ms Kouider, 34, was arrested at the scene with her fiancé Ouissem Medouni, 40.
Both have been charged with murder and were remanded in custody at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court yesterday to appear at the Old Bailey next week.
Mr Walton, an A&R consultant, is separated from Ms Kouider and divides his time between Los Angeles and Vietnam, where he appears as one of the judges on Vietnam TV’s version of Pop Idol.
Neighbours said they had noticed an unpleasant smell nearby in the days before. One woman, who did not want to be named, said: ‘I was walking past on the way home from school and we could see flames through the fence posts. My young son called out, “If you are having a barbecue, are we allowed to come?” I told him, “No, that’s not a barbecue, that’s a bad smell.” I thought they may be burning leaves.’
Another resident said: ‘We saw smoke and there was a foul smell. My son was being a bit cheeky and he climbed up the fence to look over and he saw a man sweeping Missing: Nanny Sophie Lionnet up what we thought were sticks and putting them on the bonfire.’
Ms Kouider and Mr Medouni were charged with the murder of the au pair which may have taken place up to two weeks’ ago.
‘We saw flames through fence’ ‘Throwing sticks on the bonfire’
The District Judge remanded the pair in custody until a pre-trial hearing on September 26.
He noted that murder charges are tried at UK Crown Court level, and he had no authority to deal with a bail application.
He added: ‘I sent both defendants to the Central Criminal Court on the 26 September.’
As Ms Kouider and Mr Medouni were remanded in custody, Ms Kouider began shaking her head. She smiled as she left the dock.
Ms Kouider faces one charge of ‘murder on or before September 20… victim unknown’. Mr Medouni faces one charge of ‘murder between September 7 and September 20 [on] person unknown’.
Neighbours claimed Sabrina’s home was a pigsty and added she lived ‘beyond her means’ and was rarely at the home where she lived with her two boys. One friend of the victim said: ‘The father of [Ms Kouider’s] son left some time ago and she has a new boyfriend. It was him who introduced Sabrina to Sophie.’
Mark Walton has described himself as a co-founder of Boyzone, saying that he put together the band in 1993 while still a teen before meeting future manager Louis Walsh and ‘[asking] him to get involved’. He told the Irish Sun last year: ‘I was the lead singer. There were articles written about this 15-year-old boy who had put this band together.’
Afterwards he went on to form another pop group, 5th Avenue, and to manage boyband Blue after they re-formed in 2011.
Mr Walton claims to be a billionaire with a desire to combat issues such as homelessness and child trafficking in Ireland and LA.