A champion marathon runner who fled Ethiopia six years ago for a better life in Europe has been beaten to death by another refugee on a housing estate near Paris.

Zenash Gezmu’s body was found by police called to her flat in Neuilly-sur-Marne early yesterday after neighbours heard screaming.

Officers arrested a 28-year-old Eritrean man who admitted murdering Ms Gezmu, 27. She was 4ft 9in and weighed less than six stone.

Police are now attempting to contact her next-of-kin, who include a brother said to have settled in London.

They are also trying to establish Ms Gezmu’s links to the suspect, with one friend telling Le Parisian newspaper she was thought to have been single. He said: “She always told me that if she started a relationship, it would be to start a family, and I have never been aware of anyone.” The suspect provided no details of the attack to police, apart from admitting through an interpreter that he carried out the murder.

Ms Gezmu trained every morning and evening but also took hotel cleaning jobs, earning less than £200 a week.

Her body was found surrounded by her trophies and medals, including one for the 16th annual marathon in nearby Senart, which Ms Gezmu won for the second time in May.