Pair accused of murder after badly burned body found in London garden

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

Pair accused of murder after badly burned body found in London garden

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

Ouissem Medouni, 40, and Sabrina Kouider, 34, both of Wimbledon Park Road, Wandsworth, south London, appeared in grey tracksuits before magistrates for a short hearing in Wimbledon on Friday.

Kouider is charged with the murder of a victim unknown on or before September 20 at an address on Wimbledon Park Road.

Medouni is charged with the murder of a person unknown between September 7 and September 20 within the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court.

Police have been unable to tell the age or gender of the deceased person because the remains were so charred, but the victim has been named in reports as French nanny Sophie Lionnet, who is said to have worked for Kouider.

The body was discovered in the back garden of a house in Southfields, south-west London, on Wednesday afternoon.

The pair were remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on September 26.

A friend told the Daily Mail that Ms Lionnet 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."

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