A ‘cruel’ aristocrat and her lover allegedly caused the death of their baby girl after going on the run from authorities who had taken four other children into care – with the child spending much of its life in a Lidl ‘bag for life,’ a court heard today.
Constance Marten and Mark Gordon are accused of fleeing across the country in a ‘desperately selfish’ bid to prevent their fifth child being taken away from them.
The Old Bailey heard today that the couple described as ‘reckless, utterly selfish, callous, cruel and arrogant’ treated the infant ‘as if she was refuse’ dumping her body when she died in freezing conditions after two months on the run.
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.
Aristocrat Constance Marten is said to have given birth in secret and decided to go ‘off-grid’
Marten’s brother Tobias Marten and mother Virginie de Selliers arrive at the Old Bailey today
Prosecutor Tom Little, KC, said: ‘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.’
Constance Marten (left) and Mark Gordon both deny manslaughter by gross negligence
The court heard that Marten, whose father was a page to the late Queen, had had four other children with her boyfriend Marten, who had all been taken into care.
She became pregnant with their fifth child in early 2022 and gave birth sometime after December 28, the court heard.
Mr Little said: ‘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.’
He told the court: ‘This led to them camping in freezing and obviously dangerous conditions on the South Downs with insufficient clothing, equipment and food, never once seeking any medical attention.
‘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 shed.’
Police were first alerted to the existence of the baby when the placenta was found wrapped in a towel in a car seen burning on the M61 near Manchester, the court heard.
Mr Little said: ‘The defendants have been in a relationship since approximately 2016.
‘At the time that you are considering they had no home. There is an important context and background to this prosecution, namely that the baby girl in the case that you are trying was not their first child.
‘In fact the baby in the case that you are trying was their fifth baby in the previous eight years or so.
‘I will return to that important context and background later, but following extensive social services interaction with these defendants all four of their other children had been taken into care.
‘The second defendant became pregnant in early 2022 with the baby that this case is all about.
‘As you now know this was to be her fifth child. 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 it was likely the baby was born after 28 December but Marten disputes this.
There were many sightings of the couple across the country after their disappearance became front page news, jurors were told.
Mr Little said on December 19, 2022, Gordon attended a police station in Sheffield.
A court artist’s sketch of prosecutor Tom Little KC making his opening statement while being watched from the dock by defendant Mark Gordon at the Old Bailey in London today
‘The reasons for that have nothing to do with this case and are not relevant to it. But he was required to tell them and he did that he was of no fixed abode.’
On December 20, 2022, the couple booked into a holiday cottage in Northumberland- booked until Boxing Day.
‘The defendants appeared to have left that property in something of a hurry and when the owners of the property checked the property on December 28, 2022 it was in a something of a state.
‘There was food debris, and some other rubbish and stains noticeable.
‘However, the defendants had washed the bedding and sheets from the master bedroom, which were found, laundered, in the washing machine.’
On Boxing Day, Gordon again attended a police station and informed them he was homeless.
This was the last time he would report at a police station, the court heard.
On December 28, 2022 the couple’s Suzuki motor vehicle broke down and a Highway Recovery worker went to collect them.
‘He could not see through the back or side windows of the vehicle because they were blocked by what appeared to be clothing,’ Mr Little said.
Marten’s brother Tobias Marten and mother Virginie de Selliers at court today
‘The impression he had was that they had been living in the vehicle. Once the broken down vehicle had been loaded on to the truck they left the motorway.
‘The original destination had been Leeds University. But as they set off, Gordon asked to go to Thorne and specifically an address of 90 King Street.
‘The recovery driver took them to that location and then there was something of a disagreement.’
He then took them to a nearby Sainsbury’s where he left them.
‘The importance of this evidence is that the recovery driver did not see or hear any baby at any time, nor was any reference made to a baby.
‘So you will have to consider in that context any suggestion that the baby had been born at this time. If so, where was it? If so, did they leave it in the car? If so, why leave it in the car?’
By January 4 the couple had moved across the Pennines and checked into an Ibis Hotel at Lymm services in Cheshire.
Later that day, they checked into a hotel in Manchester.
‘At this point it appeared they may have been considering trying to leave the country, perhaps by boat to Ireland.
Family members of Constance Marten arrive at the Old Bailey this morning for the trial
‘They had begun to by this stage travel generally at night – no doubt to reduce the risk of being identified and seen.
‘On the evening of January 5, 2023, a Peugeot 206 car in which the defendants were now travelling, was on fire on the M61 in Greater Manchester.
‘This was seen and witnessed by many members of the public. The defendants fled the scene of the fire.’
Several ‘burner’ phones, Marten’s passport, nappies and babygrows were found in the car.
Mr Little said: ‘Wrapped in a towel in that burnt out car was a placenta – the placenta from the birth of a baby.
‘Friends and family of the defendants and healthcare workers had not been told of the pregnancy. It was the defendants’ secret.
‘But the finding of the placenta in that vehicle revealed the existence of a missing newborn baby and it is that newborn baby girl that lies at the heart of this case.
‘As a result of that finding of the placenta a high risk missing persons enquiry was launched, which became bigger and bigger news as the days went on, as some of you may or may not recall.
Marten’s brother Tobias Marten and mother Virginie de Selliers arrive at the Old Bailey today
‘But despite this and the defendants becoming aware that they were front page news they did not contact the police or other authorities, at any time.
‘They did exactly the opposite – try and hide their whereabouts.’
On January 5 the couple were allegedly seen at a Morrisons store in Bolton with Gordon hiding the baby under his coat.
They then took a taxi to Liverpool before another taxi driver picked them up and took them on a 270 mile journey to Harwich in Essex, the court was told.
The couple allegedly checked into a Premier Inn, giving the surname Thomas and refusing to give a bank card – meaning they had to move to another hotel.
Mr Little said that Liverpool and Harwich both have ports.
He added: ‘We suggest they were at least seeking to ascertain the possibly of whether they would be able to leave the country with their baby.’
A member of the public in Harwich asked them if they were ‘the people who had been on the news’, which they denied.
Family members of Constance Marten arrive at the Old Bailey this morning for the trial
They then travelled on January 7 into Colchester before moving into east London.
‘It is clear we suggest that they do not want to stay in any one location for any extended period of time presumably in case they are recognised,’ Mr Little said.
After buying a kebab, Gordon went into an Argos in East Ham and purchased a buggy and then went to Boots to buy a dummy, the court heard.
The baby was allegedly wearing only a babygrow.
In another Argos he purchased a blue tent, pillows and sleeping bags before they all went for a meal at a Brick Lane restaurant.
After dinner they dumped the buggy they had purchased earlier that day and put the baby in a red Lidl bag.
‘It would appear that, at this time, and on a number of other occasions the baby was transferred and carried in a Lidl ‘bag for life’ where it would appear it spent much of its life before it died,’ Mr Little said.
‘It would have been plain to the defendants, you must have thought, that this was an utterly inappropriate way to care for any child, and remember at all times in this case the time of year and the weather conditions.’
On January 8, the couple were said to have taken a taxi from London to Newhaven in East Sussex, paying £475 in cash.
Marten’s brother Tobias Marten and mother Virginie de Selliers at court today
Mr Little said: ‘Marten comes from a wealthy family. She has not had a deprived upbringing. She had potential access to money and whatever help she needed.
‘And all of this begs a number of important questions which she is going to have to answer in this trial.
‘Indeed I have already told you of a significant number of very expensive taxi journeys taken at the cost of hundreds, if not thousands of pounds rather than spending that money to have a roof over their heads, warmth and safety.
‘The baby was alive and seen by the taxi driver during that journey from London to the south coast. Why Newhaven? Well it is another location with a port.
‘They then go out into the wilds with nothing but a flimsy tent, a few pillows and nothing in reality for the baby.
‘The weather was cold, windy and dark. This was the last place that the defendants should have been, you may think, with such a young baby. The risks and dangers were obvious.
‘What happened in the next few days is not clear. But it seems likely that the defendants did not eat very much – if anything.
‘On the morning of January 12, 2023, Marten entered a Texaco petrol station. She purchased snacks but nothing that you would give to a baby.
Family members of Constance Marten arrive at the Old Bailey this morning for the trial
‘She bought some petrol that she put in a bottle.
‘You will hear detailed evidence during the trial about the weather conditions on the South Downs in January and February 2023.
‘For current purposes all you need to know is that that were many days when it was freezing cold, windy and wet. You will also not be surprised to know, because it is obvious, as it was to the defendants, that a newborn baby is at an extremely high risk of dying when exposed to cold weather conditions in a tent during winter.
‘An expert has looked at the weather data with the temperatures close to freezing.
‘Newborn babies have a limited capacity to maintain their body temperature when left in such freezing conditions. They lose their body heat rapidly, especially if the body is not well covered.
‘And as is well known the head is particularly prone to lose a lot of body heat rapidly due a relatively large surface area of the head as compared to the rest of the body.
‘Anybody who has had a baby knows that. These two defendants had had four babies before this one.’
The couple kept moving their tent to different locations within the South Downs, the court heard.
Mr Little said: ‘There is then an extended period when the defendants are not seen. They and the baby continued to live in a tent with hardly any possessions and limited clothing to keep warm. Scarcely eating.
‘At no stage did they seek any assistance medical or otherwise for themselves or the baby.
‘On February 16 or 17, 2023 they were seen pushing a buggy. By this stage the defendants had been living rough for over a month. They looked dishevelled.’
Later that day the tent was seen set up on Coldean Lane in Brighton.
Mr Little said: ‘As the witness remarked ‘they must be b***dy freezing or mad’. They would have been bloody freezing but they were not mad. This was their deliberate and dangerous obstinacy.’
On February 19, the defendants were seen at Stanmer Park nature reserve near Brighton.
‘Marten was carrying a very young baby with a wobbly head. The baby had no socks on, no blanket and no hat on,’ Mr Little said.
‘This, understandably you may think, shocked the witness, who formed the view that ‘the baby must have been very cold as the weather was freezing’.
‘The same witness noticed the blue tent, set up in the park, and observed ‘you have to be brave sleeping in a tent overnight in this weather’.
A court artist’s sketch of Mark Gordon, 49, in the dock at the Old Bailey in London today
‘That you may think was the understatement of the century. It was not brave, it was utterly stupid, reckless and obviously dangerous.’
On February 20, the couple were seen, again with the bag for life, attempting to break in to Hollingbury Golf Course in Brighton.
They then searched the bins in the car park and placed some items in the bag for life, the court heard.
Mr Little said: ‘It was so cold that they are trying to break in to find shelter and they are so hungry that they are scavenging for food from the bins.
‘But yet they have at least one. They have access to money. They are close to Brighton. They can go to Hospital. They can go to the police. They can contact the authorities for help. They can contact Constance Marten’s family. But they do none of those things.’
On February 27, Marten was seen attempting to steal some items before withdrawing cash from a cashpoint.
The couple were finally arrested on Golf Drive in Brighton, nearby Hollingbury Golf Course, on that day.
‘By this point they had been identified as the subjects of the high profile national missing persons investigations and so the police were called,’ Mr Little said.
Another court artist’s sketch of Mark Gordon today in the dock at the Old Bailey in London
They were arrested at 9.35pm on suspicion of child neglect.
Mr Little added: ‘At this point of course the police did not know what had happened to the baby but what was clear was that the defendants did not have the baby with them.
‘Both defendants smelt very unpleasant, as if they had not washed in several weeks.
‘Marten was wearing several layers of clothing and placed between those layers, was what appeared to be furniture stuffing, which must have been removed at some point on some scavenger hunt for items.’
Gordon was wearing a Christmas jumper with paper in the lining of his jacket for extra warmth, the court was told.
‘It is worth noting at this stage that he would later request the use of a wheelchair, claiming his legs were in pain and his hands swollen,’ Mr Little said.
‘It is plain we say that the defendants had been living in conditions for weeks in which they were unable to provide adequate care for themselves – let alone their baby child – and that that had plainly been the position for some time.
‘The dangers of rough sleeping for those who are homeless are well known. The wet and the cold and the inability to stay warm and dry in winter are dangerous. That is why people try to sleep in towns and close to buildings with shelter.
A court artist’s impression of prosecutor Tom Little KC opening the case at the Old Bailey today
‘None of that applies on the South Downs exposed to nature in its harshest and cruellest form.’
At the police station Gordon was asked where the baby was but refused to answer and demanded food, the court was told.
‘He was given crisps, which he ate from the bag on the floor, he was given a sandwich and a drink,’ Mr Little said.
‘He was asked again where the baby was, but asked for sweets. He was given sweets and asked for chocolate.
‘He refused to answer questions as to the whereabouts of the baby. His ravenous hunger tells you much about how dangerous the conditions were that they had been living in.’
On February 27, 2023, an emergency interview took place to ascertain the whereabouts of the child but both defendants refused to answer questions.
‘On March 1, 2023, following an extensive search of the countryside surrounding the area where the defendants had been arrested, the body of the baby was found. It was found in a disused shed.
‘The body was found wrapped in a plastic bag, underneath rubbish in that Lidl bag for life.
A sketch of Marten (left) and Gordon with a dock officer at the Old Bailey in March 2023
‘Also found in the shed was the defendants’ blue tent. The sleeping bags though were not present.
‘It is instructive to note the lack of clothing for the baby to have kept her warm. There was no ability to wash clothing either. That tells you everything you need to know about the neglect of this young baby girl before she died.’
After the body was found Marten answered police questions for the first time, the court heard.
She claimed the baby was born on Christmas Eve 2022 in Cumbria and was to be called Victoria.
Marten said that she had died three days after the car exploded, before correcting this to five or seven days.
She said: ‘I had her in my jacket, I hadn’t slept properly in quite a few days, I fell asleep holding her sitting up and she – when I woke up she wasn’t alive.
‘When I woke she wasn’t alive in my jacket. I believe I fell asleep on top of her.
‘But I literally didn’t, she didn’t, she didn’t make any crying or movements so. And when I woke up she wasn’t alive.
‘Then I was holding her in my jacket, that’s how I usually held her but I think I fell asleep crouching over her and she passed away.
‘I wanted to turn myself in at the time, I’ve been debating it, obviously, it’s two months later now, but I kept her body for a number of reasons.
‘Number one, erm, I mean I’m sure you’ve seen the soil on top of it inside the bag.
‘Because I wanted firstly – I’ve been debating whether to hand myself in, which I wish I did earlier, but the whole media presence and everything is kind of terrifying a little bit.
‘And also I kept the body because I wanted to have an autopsy done – I didn’t bury her because I wanted her to have a proper burial but I couldn’t get a proper burial until I had an autopsy.
‘So I’ve been carrying her around not knowing what to do really. I didn’t want to bury her in a forest, or some random place, because I wanted her to have a proper burial but also because I was concerned, err, if an animal might eat her, that would affect the autopsy.
‘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.
‘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.’
She said the car had exploded when they were driving and she had the placenta with her because she intended on burying it as a ‘religious thing because you can bury it and grow a tree from it- it’s just something we do.’
Marten added the baby had ‘the clothes on her back- a very warm waterproof onesie.’
She said they had intended on finding a flat but were ‘shocked’ when someone approached and asked if they were the two people from the news.
‘We didn’t think we were on national television. And that’s when things kinda went downhill from there. But she always had clothes and nappies and things to keep her clean.
‘She was well looked after- she wasn’t cold or anything.
‘Everyone seemed to recognise us, jeering and pointing and taking pictures of us, so that’s when we decided we’re not going to find a flat, because anyone could hand us in to the police.
‘That’s when we decided to get a tent at that point.
‘So, in order to save her from the services, then we would have to probably remove ourselves from society till we could find a house.’
Today Gordon appeared alone in the dock wearing a light blue shirt and tie.
Jurors were told a video link had been provided for Marten but she was not present.
Her mother Virginie de Selliers and her brother Tobias Marten watched proceedings as the case was opened.
The wealthy family lived at Dorset estate Crichel House during Marten’s youth and her grandmother was a playmate of Princess Margaret and goddaughter to the Queen Mother.
Marten and Gordon deny manslaughter by gross negligence, concealment of the birth of a child, child cruelty and perverting the course of justice.
They also deny causing or allowing the death of a child, an alternative charge to manslaughter, between January 4 and February 27 last year.
The case continues.