Couple charged with murder of au pair found burned in garden
AN AU pair may have been dead for two weeks, police have said, as a couple were yesterday charged with murder.
Sabrina Kouider, a mother of two, and Ouissem Medouni, 40, her partner, were charged after the charred remains of a body were found in the garden of their £900,000 end of terrace home in Southfields, south-west London.
Neighbours had alerted the fire brigade on Thursday afternoon after thick black smoke was seen in their garden.
Sophie Lionnet, 21, their nanny, had been due to return to her home in Troyes, a town in north-eastern France, after 14 months working for the family on Monday but failed to arrive.
The aspiring actress who had been caring for Ms Kouider’s two young boys had handed in her notice. Friends say she had wanted to leave for a while.
Vincent Moissenet, her former teacher, described her as a “fragile, sensitive” girl who had been excited to work for employers with links to pop music and fashion, after growing up in a hard circumstances in a povertystricken area.
“She said several months ago that she had had enough of London and wanted to come back to France, but gave no indication why,” he said.
“She was a fragile and extremely sensitive pupil who loved the arts, music, songs, poetry. She was quite literary. She took part in a project to make a film on Anne Frank. It is abominable to learn that not only was she murdered but visibly incinerated.” He added: “She loved life, despite what she had been through. She was a thoroughly nice person. She wanted to do something positive. She was a girl full of hope, who understood the ugly side of human nature but at the same time had lots of ideals.”
Yesterday Ms Kouider, 34, a fashion designer and make-up artist, and Mr Medouni briefly appeared at Wimbledon magistrates’ court before their case was sent to be heard at the Old Bailey next week.
Dressed in a grey prison tracksuit, Ms Kouider, the former partner of a music mogul who founded the pop band Boyzone, sat shaking her head through the hearing. She is charged with the murder of an unknown victim on or before Sept 20. Mr Medouni is charged with the murder of a person unknown between Sept 7 and Sept 20.
A neighbour said they had called their landlord on Tuesday because there was a “bad smell”.