Runaway aristocrat’s baby ‘found dead in Lidl bag’ after parents had four other children taken into care, court hears
25 January 2024, 16:52
A "utterly selfish" aristocrat and her partner kept their baby in a Lidl bag for life before dumping her "like refuse" in an abandoned shed, a court heard.
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Constance Marten, 36, and Mark Gordon, 49, allegedly concealed the birth of baby girl Victoria after she became pregnant in early 2022.
They sparked a national manhunt when they went missing in January 2023, in an alleged bid to avoid their baby being taken into care.
When police caught up with the couple in February last year, the child's body was found in a shopping bag covered in rubbish in a disused shed, it was alleged.
In a case which gripped the country, Marten, 36, is said to have given birth in secret and decided to go "off-grid", living in a tent in the middle of winter with Gordon causing the "entirely avoidable death" of their child.
Baby Victoria "spent much of her life" in a Lidl bag for life before her tragic death, it was said.
Her body was later discovered in the shopping bag covered in rubbish inside an abandoned shed like she was "refuse", it was said.
Marten did not give an account of what happened to the police until after her daughter's body was discovered on March 1, the jury was told.
The court was told she gave different accounts of when her baby had died before eventually settling on January 11, explaining to police: "I had her in my jacket and I hadn't slept properly in quite a few days and I fell asleep holding her sitting up and she, when I woke up she wasn't alive.
"I wanted to turn myself in at the time, I've been debating it, obviously it's two months later now." The court went on to hear Marten told officers she kept the baby's body because she wanted to have a post-mortem examination done, and did not bury her because she wanted her to have a proper burial.
"I don't know if you found, there's a bottle of petroleum in the bag because I debated whether to cremate her myself, get rid of the evidence, but I decided to keep her because I knew at some point in the future I was going to be asked about it, but I just didn't know what to do," she told police.
"So that's why we're here really...I didn't say anything yesterday because obviously the charge is quite serious. I didn't know what to do."
Earlier prosecutor Tom Little KC told the Old Bailey: "A young baby girl who would still be alive if it was not for the reckless, utterly selfish, callous, cruel, arrogant and ultimately grossly negligent conduct of these two defendants – who were the parents of that young baby girl.
"They put their relationship and their view of life before the life of a little baby girl. So that, in just a few words, is what this case is all about.
"Rather than act in the obvious best interests of a vulnerable baby and one that they should have cared for and looked after, they decided instead that they knew best.
He told jurors: "They decided that in the middle of a cold winter and in cruel and obviously dangerous weather conditions that they would deprive the baby of what it needed – warmth, shelter, food and ultimately safety.
"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.'
"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.
"When the hunt by the authorities to find them, which became national front page news almost exactly a year ago, intensified, so their desperate selfishness increased and so did the risks and the dangers to the baby."
Marten became pregnant in early 2022 and gave birth after December 28, the court heard.
"No doubt because they knew that the child would be taken into care this pregnancy and the subsequent birth was concealed from everyone including family and friends, healthcare professionals and social services," Mr Little said.
The couple began camping in "freezing and obviously dangerous conditions on the South Downs with insufficient clothes, equipment and food and no medical assistance", the court was told.
Mr Little said they travelled hundreds of miles across the country after a car they were in was found on fire between junctions 3 and 4 of the M61 near Bolton on 5th January 2023.
He said they used taxis and paid in cash to move from the town to Liverpool, then Essex, East London and Newhaven in Sussex over the following few days, in one instance paying £475 for a ride.
He said: “The defendants fled the scene of the fire. A search of the vehicle found a large number of burner mobile phones in the vehicle.
“And wrapped in a towel in that car, was a placenta. That revealed the existence of a new-born baby and this is the new-born baby girl that lies at the heart of this case.
“As a result of the finding of the placenta, a high-risk missing persons enquiry was launched. It became bigger and bigger news as the days went on and despite this and the defendants becoming aware that they were front page news they did not contact the Police or other authorities. They tried to do exactly the opposite and hide their whereabouts.”
The jury heard that while in East London, Mark Gordon had bought a buggy for their baby but after deciding to camp, despite the cold temperatures, and buying a tent, sleeping bags and pillows, the buggy was “ditched” and instead a carrier bag was used to transport the newborn.
“All they have at this stage is the tent, sleeping bags, pillows, a buggy, a bag for life and the baby. A buggy that could’ve been able to keep the baby dry, was just left," jurors were told.
“The baby was then transferred and carried in a Lidl bag for life where it would appear it spent much of its life before it died.”
The couple 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.
