First images shown of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon’s dark-haired baby girl

Subscribe For Instant News Alerts Via Email

Get Our Breaking News Emails For Free

The jury were presented with the initial images of a baby girl with dark hair who passed away when a wealthy aristocrat and her companion resided in extreme conditions for several weeks without any amenities.

According to the prosecution, Constance Marten, 36, and Mark Gordon, 49, acted in a manner that was reckless, selfish, and heartless, by hiding their daughter and fleeing to evade child protection services. As a result, they are being accused of causing the death of their newborn child.

The wee baby, Victoria, was filmed on video covered in a warm blanket tucked safely into Marten's jacket. This clip was presented as evidence during the trial for their charge of extreme disregard for human life resulting in death, which took place in the second week at the Old Bailey.

On January 7th of the previous year, footage was captured in East Ham, east London, of Marten holding a newborn outside a store. She was wearing a facemask and had a scarf wrapped around her head. In the video, Marten unzipped her red padded jacket to adjust the baby's position.

During the court hearing, it was revealed that the couple had kept Marten's pregnancy a secret and went on a cross-country journey to avoid being caught by the authorities. They did this because they wanted to keep the newborn baby all to themselves, even though their four other children had already been placed in care. This motivation was described as selfish by the court.

The police conducted a huge search as they ran away from a car that was on fire on the M61 close to Manchester. They left their belongings all over the roadside and a piece of afterbirth wrapped up in a cloth in the burned Peugeot 206.

According to the prosecution, they reportedly spent an enormous amount of money travelling across the country by taxi while hiding Victoria inside Marten's jacket. Then they retreated to a secluded area in the South Downs in East Sussex where they lived for seven weeks in a tent, braving the freezing weather. However, the couple were eventually caught and arrested.

According to what was shared in court, the body of the young individual was discovered a few days after in an abandoned structure, concealed inside a bag and surrounded by garbage "as though she were a piece of disposal material".

The news article reports that Constance Marten, a rich woman aged 36, and her partner Mark Gordon, aged 49, are accused of wanting to keep their daughter Victoria, which is believed to be driven by a self-centered desire, as their other four children were taken away and kept in care. The information was released by the GMP/PA.

At the beginning of last week's trial, Tom Little KC revealed to the jury that the mother and father frequently carried their infant in a bag from the store Lidl during her brief existence.

Marten stated that the infant passed away while they were sleeping together, and she proceeded to keep the body with her in a shopping bag to ultimately give the baby a respectful burial. She informed the authorities of this.

According to Mr. Little, the baby girl could have stayed alive if the two defendants on trial did not behave recklessly, selfishly, without any consideration, unkindly, haughtily, and mostly neglected their responsibilities.

The individuals in question were the maternal and paternal figures of a newborn infant. However, rather than prioritizing the well-being of the infant, they instead prioritized their own personal values and beliefs.

According to the prosecution, the infant passed away due to lack of care, either because of being exposed to cold temperatures or co-sleeping. The parents are accused of behaving irresponsibly and neglectfully, to an extreme degree.

According to Mr Little, the individuals made the choice to withhold essential things like shelter, food, warmth, and safety from the baby during a harsh and hazardous winter season.

"They decided to disconnect from the conventional lifestyle and resided in a tent with minimal attire, without the resources to maintain warmth and dryness, and with very limited sustenance."

On the other hand, John Femi-Ola KC, who is defending Gordon, argued that the baby was given proper care and sadly died in a devastating situation.

The lawyers argue that the infant was kept in a comfortable and dry environment and provided with sufficient meals to ensure she was healthy," he stated at the Old Bailey.

The infant did not need any medical help and passed away in a manner that was incredibly devastating according to her mother's account to the authorities during an interview.

Video recordings from a surveillance camera capturing the presence of Constance Marten, Mark Gordon, and their infant daughter Victoria inside a German doner kebab establishment located in East Ham, London.

Video from a CCTV camera shows Constance Marten hiding baby Victoria inside her coat in front of the Special Connection store located in the East Ham area of London.

Earlier the court was told that Marten wouldn't disclose the location where she abandoned her child when she got arrested on February 27, last year. However, when the baby's remains were found a few days afterward, she admitted to the authorities that she dozed off while the baby was inside her jacket and woke up to find the baby lifeless.

Last week, during the provision of testimony, a person driving a van who stopped to assist the pair whose car was engulfed in flames expressed his apprehension about the possibility that the infant might still have been alive if he had decided to stick around with the family on the shoulder of the M61.

At the Old Bailey, Ken Hudson declared that he began flickering his vehicle's lights as soon as he noticed that there were flames and black fumes emanating from a car while he was returning from work on January 5th of the previous year.

According to him, Marten escaped from the blazing car on the side of the road, and Gordon began removing their belongings from the trunk.

As soon as he noticed that she was pregnant, he inquired about the well-being of the baby. She reassured him by responding, "The baby is doing well."

During his court testimony, he mentioned that he placed his hand onto the baby's head and offered a phrase similar to "God bless" while hoping for the child's safety. He stated that the baby's head appeared chilly, and there was no movement detected.

"I've been torn up inside all year because I think that maybe if I had stayed with the car and its occupants, the baby would still be alive," he explained.

Expressway has recently emerged on social media. The video shows the car engulfed in flames as it sits on the side of the road while emergency services attend to the scene. The couple, who were driving in the car at the time of the incident, were thankfully able to escape without injuries. A video clip of Mark Gordon and Constance Marten's Peugeot 206 on fire and burning on the M61 motorway has surfaced online. The footage showcases the vehicle engulfed in flames while it remains stationary at the roadside, as emergency services work to handle the situation. Fortunately, the pair managed to flee unhurt from the car during the incident.

During the trial, the jury was presented with pictures depicting the interior of the vehicle that had been destroyed by fire.

The court heard from police officer DC Martha Bourne who explained how investigators followed the movements of the family through CCTV footage. They saw that the family traveled by taxi across the country in the days following the car fire. However, they lost track of them on January 12th when they arrived in Newhaven and could not locate them further.

A taxi driver remembered that the baby was only dressed in a diaper and wrapped in a cover while he transported them for a distance of 240 miles from Liverpool to Harwich, Essex, on a chilly evening. However, Mr. Femi-Ola, who was representing, argued that this was because the baby was getting a diaper change.

According to Joel Smith, who represented the prosecution in court, the defendants were not caught on camera again until February 20. At that time, they were observed near a golf course clubhouse in Brighton, where they were seen rifling through garbage cans.

During his testimony, Paul Rogers, who walks dogs, informed the jurors that he spotted the accused individuals appearing untidy in the vicinity of the golf course a couple of days ago.

During his testimony on Tuesday, he stated: "When I approached them, I observed that they appeared unkempt, dirty, and potentially without a home."

The male individual was transporting bags made of plastic, one in each grip. On the other hand, the female person was pushing a baby carriage. They lacked any additional items in their possession.

Marten and Gordon have both refused to accept the accusation of causing their daughter's death through extreme carelessness during the time frame of 4th January to 27th February of the previous year.

Furthermore, they reject allegations of obstructing the legal process through hiding the corpse, hiding the birth of an offspring, mistreating a child, and permitting the demise of a juvenile.

On 1 March, authorities discovered the body of a baby inside a plastic bag that was concealed in a locked shed located within an overgrown allotment in the Hollingbury district of Brighton. This discovery was made subsequent to the detainment of Marten and Gordon in the locality of Stanmer Villas.

The legal proceedings, which were planned to conclude on the 8th of March, are still ongoing.