Inside the brutal slaughter of a shy au pair

After a London couple were found guilty of killing their nanny, we look at the final weeks of her life

French au pair F Sophie Lionnet, 21, had moved to London to improve her English, but instead she found herself at the mercy of evil couple Sabrina Kouider, 35, and Ouissem Medouni, 40, who tortured and eventually killed her, before attempting to burn her body in their back garden.

Last week, a jury heard how mum-of-two Kouider had convinced herself that her former lover, Boyzone founding member Mark Walton, had planted the nanny to spy on her.

TORTURED

Innocent Sophie had never met Walton, but in the weeks leading up to her murder on 20 September 2017, Kouider and Medouni tortured her to gain a confession. The shy au pair was starved and beaten with a cable, leaving her with five broken ribs and a cracked breast bone.

More than eight hours of recordings were played to the court, in which sick Kouider was heard telling the nanny she knew influential people and would have her jailed. A video “confession” was also filmed, where an emaciated Sophie was shown admitting she had drugged Medouni so Walton could sexually assault him. Unable to afford a flight home and too scared to ask for help, Sophie was trapped in her employers’ home until her tragic death.

The court was told that Sophie was killed in the bath, before the couple threw her body on a bonfire in the back garden of their Wimbledon home as they barbecued chicken nearby. Firefighters were called to the scene after neighbours reported a pungent smell.

Medouni tried to pass off the charred remains as a sheep carcass, while Kouider claimed their nanny had run away with her ex. The pair later admitted to attempting to destroy Sophie’s body, but blamed each other for the murder.

PSYCHOSIS

The court also heard that fashion designer Kouider was obsessed

with her ex, Pictured Mark Walton. two days

The pair dated before

for two years her death but, following their split in 2013, Kouider reported Mark to the police more than 30 times, falsely branding him, among other things, a paedophile.

Walton told the jury at the Old Bailey in London that he’d once been “in love” with Kouider, but she’d suddenly “flip”. Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC told the jury the case bears all the signs of a psychosis known as “folie à deux”, or madness of two, with Kouider being the driving force. The judge decided Kouider’s depression and borderline personality disorder was not a defence for murder and the pair were both found guilty. They’ll be sentenced next month.

Sophie’s father, Patrick, said, “Sabrina and Ouissem have not only stolen the life of my daughter so brutally and without remorse, they’ve also stolen mine.”