Dorset woman and partner branded 'cruel and arrogant' for treatment of newborn
Constance Marten and Mark Gordon are charged with gross negligence manslaughter
Last updated 25th Jan 2024
A Dorset aristocrat and her partner allegedly kept their newborn daughter in a Lidl bag-for-life then dumped her "as if she was refuse" when the baby died while they were living off-grid, a court has heard.
The baby's "cruel and arrogant" parents - Constance Marten, 36, and Mark Gordon, 49 - left her in a disused shed in Brighton inside a shopping bag covered in rubbish, the Old Bailey was told.
Jurors heard that the infant was the couple's fifth baby, their other children having 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 today (Thursday 25th January).
Opening their trial, Mr Little said 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".
He told jurors: "They put their relationship and their view of life before the life of a little baby girl."
Mr Little said the defendants decided they "knew best" and ignored the advice they were given rather than act in the vulnerable baby's best interests.
"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.
"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."
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: "That baby never stood a chance. After the baby had died, the defendants did not hand themselves in but instead remained off-grid and trying to hide, leaving the body of their dead baby in a shopping bag covered in rubbish, as if she was refuse, and left in a disused unlocked shed."
Marten comes from "a wealthy family" but prioritised her finances on transport instead of "warmth and safety", the court heard.
Mr Little said: "The second defendant comes from a wealthy family. She has not had a deprived upbringing. She had potential access to money and whatever help she needed."
The jury was told how the couple had travelled across England in cars and taxis, with the newborn baby tucked underneath Marten's coat and later kept in a Lidl "bag-for-life".
On December 20th 2022, they had booked into a holiday cottage in Northumberland, leaving it in a "disgusting state", jurors heard.
Eight days later, their Suzuki car broke down on the M18 motorway and a recovery driver took them to a Sainsbury's supermarket.
No baby was seen before the couple moved across the Pennines and checked into hotels in Cheshire and Manchester, the court was told.
On January 5th 2023, a Peugeot the defendants were allegedly using caught fire on the M61 in Greater Manchester causing them to flee.
Marten's passport, "burner" phones and a placenta wrapped in a towel were discarded in the wreckage, jurors were told.
A missing persons inquiry was launched and the couple became front page news, the court was told.
The defendants were allegedly picked up by a member of public and taken to a Morrisons store in Bolton.
From there, they took a taxi to Liverpool before travelling 270 miles to Harwich and Colchester in Essex.
From there, they ended up in Whitechapel in London, where Gordon allegedly bought a "thin and flimsy" tent, pillows and sleeping bags.
After a meal in Brick Lane, the defendants allegedly dumped a buggy they had only bought earlier that day.
Mr Little suggested the baby was transferred to a red Lidl "bag-for-life" where she spent much of the rest of her life.
On January 8th, it is alleged the couple spent £475 on a taxi from Hornsey to Newhaven in East Sussex.
Constance Marten and Mark Gordon were "scavenging for food from the bins" and using furniture stuffing to keep warm in the days before their arrest, the Old Bailey heard.
Tom Little KC said the defendants were seen by a dog walker at Hollingbury Golf Course in rural Sussex on February 16th or 17th, and there were subsequent sightings of the couple in the Brighton area over the next few days.
On February 19th, Marten was seen in Stanmer Park carrying a baby that had "no socks on, no blanket and no hat on", the prosecutor said.
Mr Little 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.
After trying to "avoid detection by stealing", Marten and Gordon were arrested at Gold Drive on February 27th on suspicion of child neglect but the baby was dead by this point, the court heard.
The couple "smelt very unpleasant" upon arrest and Marten had furniture stuffing placed in between her layers of clothing, while Gordon had paper in the lining of his jacket for extra warmth, Mr Little added.
The couple, of no fixed address, deny manslaughter by gross negligence of the girl between January 4th and February 27th 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 8th.