Killer aristocrat Constance Marten had four children taken into care before death of newborn baby
Baby killer Constance Marten's first four children were put up for adoption after a family court judge ruled she was the victim of domestic violence at the hands of her partner Mark Gordon, it can now be revealed.
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The couple were found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter of their baby daughter Victoria, after fleeing from authorities and going off-grid with her in January 2023.
They slept rough with the baby in freezing temperatures in a bid to keep their child after her four siblings had been taken into care.
Legal documents seen by The Telegraph reveal that the children were removed after a judge found Gordon had caused Marten to fall out of a first-floor window while she was pregnant.
The court intervened in January 2022, after years of protracted legal argument, amid concerns that Marten was a victim of domestic abuse and that the children were at risk.
They were put up for adoption as a result, with Her Honour Judge Reardon ruling that “nothing else will do for these children.”
She found the parents had failed to provide adequate healthcare and had prioritised their own desire for privacy and secrecy over the wellbeing of their children.
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It was also revealed that when Marten was pregnant, Gordon had “either pushed her out of a first-floor window or caused her to fall during an argument.”
As a result, “The mother suffered serious injuries and the father failed to seek medical assistance.”
In the aftermath of the incident, the couple obstructed the local authority’s investigation, and Marten even took the children to Ireland to evade officials.
Gordon — who had a significant criminal history, including serious sexual violence — had failed to comply with a risk assessment process required by the Offender Management Service.
Judge Reardon ruled that his propensity for violence posed an ongoing risk of harm to the children.
She also described how the couple had repeatedly failed to attend contact sessions arranged by social services, leaving the infants “inconsolable.”
The judge added: "Irrespective of the power balance between the parents, their relationship is such that both of them will put that relationship before all other considerations.
"They see external agencies and third parties as posing a challenge to their relationship and view all offers of support as hostile.
"The strong impression given by the parents is that of two people who are fiercely united in an unrelenting struggle against a non-existent opponent.”
At one point, Marten claimed she intended to separate from Gordon and care for the children alone.
But the judge concluded: “There was no intention on the part of either parent to end their relationship, which continued to be a central and dominant feature in the lives of both of them.”
Marten gave birth to her first child in Wales in November 2017 under bizarre circumstances, which led to social services involvement.
The aristocrat lied about her identity, turning up to hospital unannounced and already in labour. Speaking with a fake Irish accent, she claimed to be a traveller from Leeds named Isabella O’Brien.
She also told nurses she was on the run from her family, who disapproved of her pregnancy out of wedlock.
Marten introduced Gordon as a friend, insisting he was not the baby’s father — but staff were suspicious.
Their true identities were revealed when a social worker recognised them from a national hospitals alert issued after an earlier disappearance.
Gordon, who was wanted by police for failing to comply with sex offender registration requirements, assaulted two female officers when police arrived. He was arrested and later sentenced to 40 weeks in prison after pleading guilty at Llanelli Magistrates’ Court.
Social workers assigned to the case were horrified to discover Marten was living in a tent near a Tesco supermarket close to the hospital.
She told them not to "judge her" and Gordon’s “alternative lifestyle,” but also admitted that her plan had been to pose as a destitute traveller in the hope of being offered a council house.
An interim supervision order was imposed, and Marten was required to attend a mother and baby unit while Gordon served his sentence in Cardiff, to assess her ability to care for the child.
Social workers expressed concern about Marten regularly falling asleep with the infant, explaining the potential dangers. Despite this, they acknowledged that she clearly loved the baby, and she was eventually discharged under social services supervision.
Marten and Gordon then moved to east London and rented a property using money from her generous trust fund.
It was there she gave birth to her second child in April 2019, without registering for antenatal care or seeking any medical assistance.
She became pregnant again within weeks. Four months into this pregnancy, Marten fell from a bedroom window in their two-storey terraced home.
Gordon initially refused paramedics entry into the property, insisting Marten was fine.
However, after a hospital scan, it was discovered she had shattered her spleen. The unborn baby was miraculously unharmed, and Marten spent eight days in hospital.
The couple maintained Marten had fallen while adjusting a television aerial. But police were immediately suspicious — the only TV in the house was under a blanket and clearly not in use.
The criminal investigation was dropped after Marten refused to cooperate.
She later discharged herself from hospital against medical advice and fled to Ireland with the children.
Alarmed by reports of her fall, Marten’s estranged father, Napier, flew home from Australia and made an emergency application for temporary wardship of the children.
Marten returned to the UK in January 2020, at which point the children were removed and placed in foster care.
Their third child was born in May 2020, and within weeks Marten was pregnant again, giving birth at home the following May.
The couple again failed to attend scheduled contact visits with their children.
The judge described it as “heartbreaking” after hearing how one of the children was left “inconsolable” when they didn’t show up.
The family court eventually lost patience after the couple repeatedly sought to frustrate proceedings by sacking lawyers or calling in sick to delay hearings.
In January 2022, Judge Reardon, sitting at East London Family Court, ruled that adoption was in the children’s best long-term interests.
She said: "It is much more likely than not that in the foreseeable future the children will be exposed to serious physical violence between their parents.
"It is quite possible that they will be injured themselves, and virtually certain that they will suffer long-term psychological harm and impairment in all areas of their development.”
Just months later, Marten was pregnant for a fifth time. Determined to keep this child away from the authorities, the couple went into hiding.
Victoria’s body was found inside a shopping bag in a disused shed near Brighton, days after the couple were arrested on February 27, 2023.
The defendants were convicted at an earlier trial of concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice.
The couple had been in a relationship since 2016 and went on the run when Marten was heavily pregnant with their fifth child in late December 2022.
Authorities had previously taken four of their children into care following concerns for the wellbeing of each child, which included previous warnings about wholly unsuitable living conditions for a baby in a tent, the CPS said.
Marten secretly gave birth and police were first alerted to the existence of a baby when a placenta was found wrapped in a towel in a car that was burning on the M61 motorway near Greater Manchester on 5 January 2023.
The couple fled the scene, and a national hunt was launched to find them and the baby.
The pair had took numerous taxis around the country and loitered around different ports in a bid to get out of the UK.
They later made their way to East Sussex and settled in the South Downs National Park with few possessions or food in freezing conditions with the newborn baby from 8 January 2023 onward.
It is not known exactly when the baby was born, or when she died. It is believed the newborn was alive for some weeks and was forced to endure the cold outdoor conditions.
At no stage did Marten or Gordon seek help for themselves or their baby.
When spotted by witnesses and on CCTV footage, the baby was seen only in a baby grow and without adequate winter clothing for the cold outdoors. The infant was not wearing any socks, a hat or even a blanket.
Marten and Gordon were arrested in Brighton on 27 February 2023 having been sleeping rough for nearly two months.
They did not answer any questions about their baby until its body was found two days later.
Experts have described Gordon, 50, as a sociopathic sex offender.
He was just 14 when he raped a woman at knifepoint in 1989 after breaking into her home armed with knives and hedge clippers.
He was jailed for 40 years, serving half of that in the US before being deported back to the UK.
The case is now the subject of a national child safeguarding review to consider whether new laws should be brought in to protect unborn children.
Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford, who led the case, said: “Today, the justice we have long fought for has been finally been served for baby Victoria.
"The selfish actions of Mark Gordon and Constance Marten resulted in the death of a newborn baby who should have had the rest of her life ahead of her.
"She should have recently celebrated her second birthday, but this was snatched away by the very people who should’ve protected and cared for her.
"This was an incredibly challenging investigation for the hundreds of officers who were involved in the search. Our main focus throughout the search was finding Victoria alive and we all remain devastated by her death.
"As anyone who's followed this trial will know, it was an incredibly complex investigation. Mark Gordon and Constance Marten deliberately avoided the authorities and continued to shield Victoria from us even after their arrest. This meant even the most experienced child pathologists in the country were unable to establish the cause of Victoria's death.
"We know today's verdict won't bring Victoria back, but I am pleased our painstaking investigation has resulted in those who caused her death being brought to justice."