Constance Marten trial: Baby kept in Lidl bag before being dumped, court told
- Published
A baby whose body was found in a shed spent much of her life being carried in a Lidl "bag for life" while her parents lived "off-grid", a court has heard.
Constance Marten, 36, and Mark Gordon, 49, are on trial for the manslaughter of newborn Victoria, whose body was discovered in March 2023 after a weeks-long search for the family.
Prosecutors said the baby would still be alive if it were not for the "reckless" behaviour of the defendants.
The pair deny the charges.
Outlining the case against the defendants, prosecutor Tom Little KC told jurors the couple previously had four other children, all of whom had been taken into care after extensive involvement from social services.
He said the couple "essentially went off-grid" and lived outside to avoid social services removing their new baby, concealing the pregnancy from family and the health service.
The Old Bailey heard that only the defendants knew the precise date the baby was born, but the prosecution said she appeared to have been born after 28 December 2022.
On 5 January, a car the family had allegedly been travelling in was discovered on fire on a road in Greater Manchester. When it was searched a placenta wrapped in a towel was found inside.
The couple had left before police arrived and a high-risk missing persons inquiry was launched.
Two days later, Mr Little KC told jurors they dumped a buggy in London and "the child was transferred and carried in a Lidl 'bag for life' where it would appear it spent much of its life before it died".
Jurors were told the couple lived in a tent alongside their baby in "freezing and obviously dangerous conditions" - conditions which prosecutors allege ultimately led to her death.
Mr Little KC told jurors Ms Marten and Mr Gordon spent hundreds of pounds on taxi journeys while classed as missing people rather than putting it towards a "roof over their heads and warmth and safety".
He said that by the middle of February 2023 they had been "living rough for over a month", sometimes in "freezing cold, windy and wet" weather, and at one stage the couple were scavenging for food from bins.
The jury was told Ms Marten - who was not in court to hear the prosecution's opening - did not have a "deprived upbringing" and had "potential access to the money and whatever help she needed".
There was a sighting of Victoria as late as 19 February but the baby was not with Ms Marten and Mr Gordon when they were arrested on 27 February. When officers detained the couple, Ms Marten had what appeared to be stuffing from furniture inside her clothing, and Mr Gordon was still wearing a Christmas jumper.
On 1 March, prosecutors say baby Victoria's body was found in a shed in Brighton in the same Lidl bag she had been seen being carried in, covered in rubbish.
Pathologists have been unable to establish a cause of death.
In a police interview after the body was found, Ms Marten gave conflicting dates for Victoria's death, but said she had fallen asleep sitting up holding the baby in her jacket and awoke to find her dead.
She told officers she kept the body because she wanted an autopsy to be performed, adding: "I've been carrying her around not knowing what to do."
Ms Marten also told police she and Mr Gordon had planned to buy a flat but were recognised when they travelled to London to find one.
She continued: "In order to save [the baby] from the services, then we would have to probably remove ourselves from society till we could find a house"
Mr Gordon told police their situation went "really down really quickly" after their car caught fire with possessions inside.
Ms Marten said in an interview they considered turning themselves in and insisted the baby had adequate clothing to survive outdoors, which the prosecution disputes.
Mr Little KC said the couple had put their relationship and "view of life" above the baby's safety, adding Victoria "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".
Ms Marten and Mr Gordon are charged with manslaughter by gross negligence of their baby between 4 January 2023 and 27 February 2023.
The couple are also accused of four other offences : cruelty to their baby; concealment of the baby's birth; causing or allowing her death; and perverting the course of justice by concealing the body.
The trial continues.
