Constance Marten and Mark Gordon jury discharged

Ms Marten and Mr Gordon denied manslaughter by gross negligence of their baby Victoria

An Old Bailey jury has been discharged in the case of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon after being unable to reach verdicts.

Ms Marten, 37, and Mr Gordon, 50, denied manslaughter by gross negligence of their newborn baby Victoria, whose body was found inside a shopping bag in a shed in Brighton on 1 March 2023.

The jury heard pathologists had been unable to establish how Victoria had died because her body was so badly decomposed.

The prosecution will now have to consider whether to seek a retrial.

The trial began almost five months ago on 25 January and the jury of five women and five men spent 72 hours and 33 minutes deliberating.

On Wednesday, the Judge Mark Lucraft KC thanked jurors for their "extraordinary" public service and the "dedication" they have shown in the case.

The judge said he was conscious the jurors had put their lives on hold for the trial and excused them from jury service for the rest of their lives.

A judge can decide to discharge a jury - essentially dismiss them and end the trial - if they have been unable to reach a majority verdict. Any retrial then requires that a new jury be appointed.

A high-risk missing persons manhunt had been launched for the couple and their baby on 5 January 2023, after a car they had been travelling in was discovered on fire on the M61 near Bolton.

The couple were eventually found in Brighton on 27 February 2023, two days before Victoria's body was discovered.

As well as denying the charge of manslaughter by gross negligence, the couple denied four other charges: concealment of the baby's birth; child cruelty; causing or allowing her death; and perverting the course of justice by concealing the body.