Aristocrat Constance Marten and rapist partner sentenced to 14 years each in prison over death of newborn baby
Aristocrat Constance Marten and her convicted rapist partner have been sentenced to 14 years each behind bars over the death of their newborn baby.
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Marten, 38, and Mark Gordon, 51, were found guilty of manslaughter, child cruelty, concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice following two trials spanning six months each.
Marten was today sentenced to 14 years behind bars over the death of her baby, Victoria.
Gordon, meanwhile, will spend 14 years in jail with a further four on license.
The pair made national news when police launched a nationwide hunt after their car burst into flames on a motorway near Bolton, Greater Manchester, on January 5 2023.
The couple travelled across England and went off-grid, sleeping in a tent on the South Downs where baby Victoria died days later.
After seven weeks on the run, the defendants were arrested in Brighton.
Days later, baby Victoria's decomposed body was found nearby.
During Monday's sentencing, Judge Mark Lucraft KC repeatedly warned the pair about "disruption" in the dock as lawyers mitigated for the pair ahead of their Old Bailey sentencing.
The couple were seen talking to each other, gesturing and passing notes as they sat flanked by dock officers. Judge Lucraft told them that their behaviour showed a "complete lack of respect" to the court.
When Marten complained that she was "entitled to a pen", the judge said he was trying to listen to her barrister's submissions and she was being "very distracting".
Sentencing the pair, Judge Lucraft said: "I propose to sentence you on the basis of death by hypothermia.
"Whether it was by those means or by smothering may not make any significant difference when it comes to the sentence.
"But my clear conclusion is that the appropriate basis for sentence, in the light of all the evidence, is death by hypothermia."
In a televised sentencing, Judge Lucraft told the defendants: "It is clear throughout the period neither of you gave much or any thought to the care or love for your baby."
The judge said they had displayed "arrogance" and treated Victoria to "neglect of the most serious type".