Couple had sex while murdered French nanny lay dead nearby, court told

Sabrina Kouider tells jury she cried when Ouissem Medouni satisfied himself with her shortly after killing Sophie Lionnet

Sophie Lionnet's body was burned in a garden at the back of Wimbledon Park Road last year (PA)

A couple accused of murdering their French nanny had sex as she lay dead nearby, a court has heard.

Sabrina Kouider, 35, told an Old Bailey jury that she cried when her partner, Ouissem Medouni, satisfied himself with her shortly after killing Sophie Lionnet at their flat in Wimbledon, south-west London.

She has blamed the financial analyst for waterboarding the 21-year-old au pair in the bathroom in September last year.

After the body was found on a bonfire in their garden, Ms Kouider said she lied to police on his instructions.

Under cross-examination, Ms Kouider said: “Everything I done (sic), I did it for him.

“He wanted to have sex with me. I’m even shocked to talk about it, it’s embarrassing.”

Court artist sketch of Ouissem Medouni, 40, and his partner Sabrina Kouider, 34, appearing at the Old Bailey in London (PA)

Orlando Pownall QC, for Mr Medouni, asserted: “You suggesting Mr Medouni was insistent on having sex with you when Sophie was lying dead in the bed is nonsense.”

Ms Kouider replied: “I said ‘What are you doing?’ When he finished he said he was so stressed.”

Asked if she was alleging rape, she said: “I was shocked. I was not myself. I didn’t say ‘Don’t do that’ but I was crying while he was doing that.”

Mr Pownall said: “I suggest it is a figment of your imagination.”

Ms Kouider replied: “It’s not my imagination, it’s the truth.”

The lawyer suggested the defendants’ cases were “mirror images” of each other.

He said: “You say Mr Medouni had never shown any violence towards her (Miss Lionnet) prior to September 18 and on that evening he was violent.

“His defence is almost the mirror image of yours. He says you were the one that had been violent and were violent in the early hours of the 19th.”

Ms Kouider said: “I reject that. I was not violent.”

Mr Pownall went on: “If one was looking at the two mirror images, would you agree there is an important difference between you and him? First, over many years you have made false accusations against a number of people.”

Ms Kouider said: “I never made a false accusation against anybody.”

The lawyer said: “Secondly, over a number of years you have shown bad temper and violence towards a number of people.

“The further difference – you always blame somebody else for your problems.”

Ms Kouider denied the accusation.

Mr Pownall referred to a diagnosis in May 2017 of depression and borderline personality disorder.

Ms Kouider admitted she had not been”well” but added: “I don’t know where you are getting this information.”

Ms Kouider and Mr Medouni, 40, have admitted perverting the course of justice but deny murder.

Mr Pownall told Ms Kouider: “You make up dreadful stories about people, often of a sexual nature.

“You confuse dreams with reality and you have violent mood swings.

“You can suddenly become aggressive. You do pick on the weak and exploit them.”

The defendant replied: “That’s not true. I’m not crazy. I’m not losing my mind.”

The barrister suggested she had even lied by denying suicide attempts and incidents of self-harm when she was younger.

He read doctors’ notes detailing how she had jumped from a fourth-floor balcony on her 18th birthday and drank cleaning fluid after breaking up with her fiance when she was 20.

Mr Pownall suggested that, contrary to what Ms Kouider had told jurors, Mr Medouni was delighted to be “punching above his weight” with her.

She was the one who was “ashamed” of their relationship, telling people he was her cousin or brother, he said.

Ms Kouider was so “fiercely jealous, possessive and controlling” that she once set fire to curtains, he added.

The defendant denied it, blaming a candle for the incident.

Press Association