Man and woman charged with murder after burned body found in London

A man and a woman have appeared in court charged with murder after the discovery of a badly burned body in the garden of their home in London.

Sabrina Kouider and Ouissem Medouni are alleged to have killed the victim on or before 20 September at the address in Wandsworth, south-west London.

Police have been unable to tell the age or gender of the dead person because of the level of burns, but the victim has been named in local reports as Sophie Lionnet, a nanny from Troyes, north-east France, who is said to have worked for Kouider.

Police discovered the body on Wednesday after parents walking their children home from school reported a large fire and “foul-smelling smoke”, according to reports.

Kouider, 34, a makeup artist and designer, is the former girlfriend of Mark Walton, who was part of the initial lineup of the boyband Boyzone. On Friday, she and Medouni, 40, were remanded in custody at Westminster magistrates court to appear at the Old Bailey on 26 September.

A friend of Lionnet’s told the Daily Mail she had come to London to learn English but found it difficult living there, adding: “Sophie had been unhappy for a long time, so unhappy she left to stay with one of her few friends for two nights last month.

“She had finally decided to go home, though, and had just asked her mum to send her £40 so she could afford the fare. She was supposed to have gone back on Monday. She never arrived.”

Forensic officers continued their work on Thursday. Scotland Yard said: “Police were called to a residential address at Wimbledon Park Road at 6.26pm on Wednesday, 20 September, following reports of a fire and a person deceased.

“A body was found at the scene. The body was too badly burned to establish the gender and age. A postmortem examination will be held in due course.”

The Metropolitan police’s homicide and major crime command is leading the investigation.