Constance Marten given permission to appeal 14-year sentence over baby's death
Marten and her partner Mark Gordon's daughter, Victoria, died in a tent on the South Downs in January 2023.
Constance Marten has been given permission to appeal the 14-year sentence she received following the death of her baby daughter.
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Marten, 39, was found on the run with her partner, convicted rapist Mark Gordon, 52, after their daughter Victoria died in a tent on the South Downs in southern England in January 2023.
The couple had fled from authorities in an attempt to prevent Victoria from being taken into care, after four of their other children had previously been removed.
Marten and Gordon were both found guilty of manslaughter, child cruelty, concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice following two trials at the Old Bailey.
The trials took place over a period of six months each.
Judge Mark Lucraft KC sentenced both to 14 years in prison, while Gordon was also given a further four years on extended licence.
Marten has now been granted permission to appeal against her sentence and has renewed her application for permission to appeal her gross negligence manslaughter conviction.
While permission to appeal the sentence has been granted, a date for the hearing has not yet been confirmed.
Judge Lucraft agreed with prosecutors that baby Victoria died from hypothermia after being exposed to “significant cold stress”.
He rejected the defendants’ claims that Victoria had been accidentally smothered while they slept in the tent.
The judge said the offending was made more serious because Victoria was particularly vulnerable and the couple had failed to heed previous warnings.
He said they had displayed “arrogance” and subjected Victoria to “neglect of the most serious type”.
Judge Lucraft told the defendants: “It is clear throughout the period neither of you gave much or any thought for the care or love for your baby.
A nationwide search for the couple began after their car caught fire on a motorway near Bolton, Greater Manchester, in early January 2023.
The pair travelled across England before going off-grid and living in a tent on the South Downs, where Victoria died days later.
After seven weeks on the run, Marten and Gordon were arrested in Brighton.
Police later discovered Victoria’s body inside a Lidl bag, amid rubbish in an abandoned shed nearby.