Murder suspect lost baby after being pushed

A fashion designer accused of murdering her French nanny told jurors a former Boyzone pop star pushed her when she was pregnant, causing her to lose the baby.

Sabrina Kouider, 35, allegedly murdered au pair Sophie Lionnet after becoming obsessed with the idea that she was in league with her exboyfriend Mark Walton.

Kouider and her partner Ouissem Medouni, 40, allegedly tortured Miss Lionnet into confessing to outlandish allegations against Mr Walton before killing her and disposing of the body on a bonfire last September.

Giving evidence, Kouider wept as she admitted hitting Miss Lionnet with an electrical cable “really bad” over Mr Walton.

She said: “I felt betrayed. She was saying sorry. I was just crying. I just wanted to believe it’s not the truth.”

Kouider described meeting Mr Walton in a Santander bank in 2011.

He followed her to a cafe and after striking up a conversation, offered her paid work helping with his song-writing, she said. As romance blossomed, he moved into her Queensway flat, the court heard.

But Kouider told jurors he “became crazy”, jealous and called her names. She claimed he pushed her while she was pregnant and she miscarried.

Icah Peart QC, defending, said: “Even though that episode occurred, did you and Mark continue the relationship?”

The defendant replied: “Yes, because he said sorry and he doesn’t know what he’s doing, he’s really stressed about the album.

“He says he loved me and does not know what happened to his head but he did it again, strangling me.”

She split up with Mr Walton in the summer of 2012 and turned to her first love Medouni for support because she was “scared”, the court heard.

The French defendants have admitted perverting the course of justice but deny murder.

“He says he loved me and he does not know what happened to his head”

Au pair Sophie Lionnet was murdered