Sophie Lionnet: Couple jailed for French au pair murder
Image copyright Met PoliceA couple who tortured and killed their nanny before dumping her body on a fire in their garden have both been jailed for a minimum of 30 years.
Sabrina Kouider, 35, and Ouissem Medouni, 40, became obsessed Sophie Lionnet, 21, was helping ex-Boyzone singer Mark Walton abuse people at their home in south-west London.
French national Ms Lionnet's body was found on 20 September last year.
Kouider and Medouni were jailed by Old Bailey judge Nicholas Hilliard QC.
The couple were found guilty of murder following a trial in which they blamed one another for Ms Lionnet's death, each saying they were asleep at the time.
The court heard the couple subjected Ms Lionnet to "relentless intimidation" to make her admit she was in league with Kouider's ex-boyfriend Mr Walton.
Jurors heard more than eight hours of recordings in which Ms Lionnet was slapped and called "worse than a murderer" by her tormentors at their home in Southfields.
Kouider and Medouni dunked her head into water, starved her, hit her with an electrical cable and beat her so badly she had five broken ribs and a cracked breast bone, the jury was told.
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Hours before her death, a filmed "confession" showed an emaciated Ms Lionnet admit she had drugged Medouni so Mr Walton could sexually assault him.
