Boyzone founder Mark Walton has told a court he was left "emotionally broken" after falling in love with a fashion designer accused of murdering her French nanny and burning her body in the garden.
Sophie Lionnet, 21, was allegedly murdered by Mr Walton's ex-girlfriend Sabrina Kouider, 35, and her current partner Ouissem Medouni, 40, after which her body was burnt in Kouider's back garden in London.
Jurors have heard Mr Walton, who met Kouider in 2011, lay at the heart of Kouider's campaign of torture against Sophie. It was alleged that Kouider was "fixated" on Mr Walton and accused him of being a paedophile who was controlling Sophie using "black magic".
Slain nanny
Kouider and her partner Ouissem Medouni, 40, allegedly beat Sophie into a so-called confession that she was in league with Mr Walton. They also demanded Sophia confess to conspiring with Walton to sexually abuse her family. Afterwards, she was killed and her body thrown on to a bonfire in their garden in Wimbledon, south west London, on September 20 last year.
Sabrina Kouider and Ouissem Medouni
But giving evidence at the Old Bailey, Mr Walton denied the allegations and said he had never heard of the nanny until she was killed. He told the court Kouider had reported him to police at least six times and set up cameras in their flat in Queensway, central London. The court heard Kouider would suddenly burst into rages, including an occasion in Oxford Circus when she shouted: "Mr Boyzone has no money."
Prosecutor Richard Horwell, QC, asked Mr Walton: "We have heard that your name was referred to by Sabrina Kouider before and after her arrest. Had you ever heard of Sophie Lionnet?"
Mr Walton said: "Never, ever."
Mr Horwell asked: "Had you ever talked to her?"
He replied: "Never."
Mr Walton told jurors he created Boyzone in 1993 while at school and was in the band for about a year. He has since gone on to be a judge on Vietnam's Pop Idol. The Irishman said he met Kouider in a NatWest bank in Notting Hill, west London, and hit it off straight away.
He said: "I was in love. She was my life then so..."
The court heard they lived together for two years during which time she reported him to police for a string of claims including putting wooden toys in the bath, hitting their cat despite them not having a pet, hacking her emails and grabbing her by the throat. She also insisted he take a drug test after accusing him of being addicted to opiates.
Mr Walton said: "It was turbulent, probably the most turbulent relationship I had ever been in. She would go from softly spoken French accent then she would flip, get very angry, very loud and just not care where we were. She would just go crazy over something trivial."
The court heard Walton had written to Sabrina Kouider saying: "I will love you until the day I die."
Mr Walton said: "I was emotionally broken so I guess at the time I did mean that I still loved her. She would shout if I disagreed with her. She is a very intelligent woman but she has a calculating streak."
Mr Walton said he paid for Kouider's nannies but she would fire them over accusations of stealing and of being interested in him. He said she suddenly disappeared one day and he tried to rescue the relationship by paying for her to fly to LA.
The court heard that in 2013, he paid £12,800 in rent on Kouider's Wimbledon flat but stopped the financial support in February 2014. She went on to phone his mother accusing him of being a paedophile and repeated the claims on a Facebook page that was shared with one of his unnamed celebrity clients.
Mr Walton was questioned by police over her allegations in 2014 and he denied them. He was never charged and the court heard there was no evidence to substantiate Kouider's claims, Daily Mirror reports.
Sabrina Kouider
Ouissem Medouni and Sabrina Kouider, both of Wimbledon Park Road, Southfields, southwest London, both deny murder and admit perverting the course of justice by burning the body.
The trial continues.
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