30 January 2024 , 12:29
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Aristocrat Constance Marten and her partner Mark Gordon have been on trial over the alleged manslaughter of their daughter, baby Victoria, at the Old Bailey for a week.
The jury were told the infant was the couple’s fifth baby, their four other children had all previously been taken into care. It was their “selfish desire” to keep the baby that ultimately led to her “entirely avoidable” death, prosecutor Tom Little KC said. He added that little Victoria “would still be alive if it was not for the reckless, utterly selfish, callous, cruel, arrogant and ultimately grossly negligent conduct of the two defendants on trial”. Here's what the jury have been told so far:
December 24, 2022 - Baby Victoria born
Jurors heard baby Victoria, whose parents were Marten, 36 and Gordon, 49, was born on Christmas Eve 2022 and shortly after the pair went on the run with her. They had a car which blew up on the M61 motorway, the court was told. Images of the wreck have been shown to jurors which showed inside the gutted vehicle, where police say they found the baby's placenta. Prosecutors say it was the discovery that sparked a huge manhunt as the couple reportedly travelled the UK.
The car alight on the M61 (PA)
Inside the burnt out car (MET POLICE)January 5, 2023 - CCTV at bus station
Marten and her boyfriend Mark Gordon, 49, were captured on CCTV walking calmly into Bolton bus station. The footage was shown to the court and allegedly shows the 36-year-old mother hiding the newborn under her coat.
Mum and baby who vanished after car broke down on motorway 'seen 200 miles away'
January 6, 2023 - Baby seen in only a nappy in taxi
The court was told the couple took a taxi to Liverpool for around £80 before taking another cab some 240 miles, arriving in Harwich in Essex in the early hours of January 6. Giving evidence cab driver Ali Yaryar told jurors how a man and a woman had flagged him down on Edge Lane in Liverpool.
He said the woman was “shivering” and asked for him to turn the heating on before giving their destination in Essex. He told jurors: “I said this is a long journey. We go to Heathrow airport from Liverpool for £500 but it’s a quiet night, I can go there if you want for £400.”
When prosecutor Joel Smith asked what he noticed about the woman, he answered there was a baby inside the woman’s jacket dressed only in a nappy. When he offered the use of a car seat for the child she declined because the child was “too small”. Mr Yaryar said he heard the couple arguing, with the woman saying “he’s not very helpful”.
Cross-examining for Gordon, John Femi-Ola KC suggested the baby did have clothes and only had a nappy on while being changed. Mr Yaryar replied: “I think the baby had no clothes.” The witness said he saw news stories a few days later and recognised the people he had taken in his taxi.
Marten and Gordon sit with a dock officer at an earlier hearing (PA)Rest of January - Couple living off grid
Prosecutor Tom Little KC said: “They decided that, in the middle of a cold winter and in cruel and obviously dangerous weather conditions, they would deprive the baby of what it needed – warmth, shelter and food and ultimately safety,” he said.
“They essentially went off-grid and lived in a tent with hardly any clothes, no means of keeping and remaining warm and dry, and with scarcely any food. Their selfish desire to keep their baby girl led inexorably to the death of that very baby. They went, and remained, on the run. Giving birth to the baby on the run. Not seeking any medical assistance before, during or after birth. Not registering the birth but moving from location to location."
Mark Gordon and Constance Marten on Whitechapel Road on January 7 (PA)The court heard from a member of the public who described confronting the couple near Harwich port in Essex after watching a news report about their disappearance. Dan Gosling was taking his dog for a walk when he came across the defendants sitting on a flower planter and recognised them from the television, he told jurors.
He said: "It was freezing cold. There was frost on the floor. There was chill in the air, a fresh January morning to say the least." Mr Gosling said the baby was dressed in a white onesie and wrapped inside Marten's coat in a towel or blanket. She gave the kind of cry he "could not walk away from", Mr Gosling said. Prosecutor Joel Smith asked: "To you, did the baby sound distressed?" Mr Gosling said: "Most definitely."
February 16 - Couple spotted at golf course
Marten and Gordon were allegedly spotted in Hollingbury Golf Course, Sussex, on February 16 or 17 with subsequent sightings around Brighton over the following days. Marten was seen in Stanmer Park on February 19 carrying a baby with "no socks on" and "no blanket" or "hat on", prosecutor Mr Little told the jury.
The prosecutor said the defendants were seen the following day back at the golf course where they were “trying to break in to find shelter and they are so hungry that they are scavenging for food from the bins”, despite having bank cards and access to money. When arrested, it was heard how both defendants “smelt very unpleasant”, with Marten having furniture stuffing placed in her clothing, while Gordon had a paper in the lining of his jacket for extra warmth, Mr Little said.
Couple missing with baby after car breakdown 'spotted' as police issue appeal
Mark Gordon (Getty Images)
Constance Marten (Getty Images)February 27 - Pair arrested
They were arrested on February 27 on suspicion of child neglect, but the court heard by this time their baby was already dead. Prosecutor Mr Little told the court the baby “would still be alive if it was not for the reckless, utterly selfish, callous, cruel, arrogant and ultimately grossly negligent conduct of the two defendants on trial”.
Mark Gordon is led out Crawley Police Station in March 2023 (PA)March 1 - Baby Victoria found
On March 1 last year, Victoria was found unclothed in a Lidl bag that had rubbish piled on top of it inside a dilapidated shed on an allotment in Brighton, the court was told. Her parents were later charged with manslaughter by gross negligence.
Police at allotments in Brighton (Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)Trial continues
Marten and Gordon, of no fixed address, deny manslaughter by gross negligence of the girl between January 4 and February 27 last year. They are also charged with perverting the course of justice, concealing the birth of a child, child cruelty, and causing or allowing the death of a child. The trial before Judge Mark Lucraft KC is expected to go on until March 8.