Constance Marten trial: Dead baby 'well cared for' by parents, court told

Mark Gordon in court on Thursday - Constance Marten did not attend court for a second day in a row

The trial of a mother and father accused of killing their baby has been told she was "well cared for" by her parents.

Constance Marten, 36, and Mark Gordon, 49, are on trial for the manslaughter of newborn Victoria, whose body was discovered in a Lidl 'bag for life' in March 2023.

Mr Gordon's lawyer suggested they were "driven off grid" after police began a weeks-long search for the family.

The pair deny the charges.

Ms Marten and Mr Gordon were arrested near Brighton on 27 February 2023, and their baby's body was discovered two days later in a nearby shed.

The trial has previously heard the couple were living rough in a bid to evade social services as they feared their newborn child would be removed.

Prosecutors allege the baby died as a result of living outdoors in wintry conditions, but in an opening address to the jury, John Femi-Ola KC, who is defending Mr Gordon, said: "The baby was kept warm and dry, and was fed such as she was well-nourished. The baby did not require medical assistance."

He said there was no evidence of any sign of violence, and no sign of external or internal injuries.

Mr Femi-Ola said there was no intention by the couple to pervert the course of justice by deliberately allowing Victoria's body to decompose, because Ms Marten wanted a post-mortem examination to know "how her beloved baby died".

On Friday, the jury was also played footage taken by Ken Hudson, a motorist who passed the couple's car after it burst into flames on the M61 in Greater Manchester on 5 January.

Mr Hudson told the court he pulled over and dialled 999, then saw a man "frantically" removing possessions from the burning car, and a woman with a baby getting out.

Ms Marten told him the infant was fine, Mr Hudson said, and that he did not need to wait with them any longer by the side of the road.

In the footage, Mr Hudson can be heard refusing an offer from Mr Gordon of money in exchange for a possible lift to the nearest service station. The lift never happened, he said.

Asked if he heard any noise or movement from the baby, he said "none whatsoever", and told the court he put his hand on the infant's head and said "God bless".

Mr Hudson said the baby "felt quite cold, but it was January, and it didn't move at all", adding he was "cut up because I believe that if I stayed with the vehicle, the baby may be still alive."

He rejected the defence's suggestion Ms Marten would not have allowed a stranger to place his hand on the baby's head, and maintained the exchange happen.

The prosecution maintains baby Victoria would still be alive were it not for the "reckless, utterly selfish, callous, cruel, arrogant and ultimately grossly negligent conduct" of her parents.

Outlining the case against the defendants on Thursday, 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.

The court has heard the couple were living in a tent on the South Downs - which the prosecution says deprived the baby of what it needed, namely warmth, food and safety.

Mr Little said the conditions the defendants were living when sleeping rough "rapidly worsened and quickly reached a stage that were inhuman", and accused them of putting their "own relationship and desires over the safety and wellbeing of their baby".

But Mr Femi-Ola for the defence said: "The Crown say they went off the grid. As you listen to the evidence, you may ask yourself: were they driven off the grid?"

On Thursday, jurors were told Ms Marten comes from a privileged background and had access to money.

The court was also told Ms Marten received £15,590 from "Hoare Trustees" into her bank account on 22 December. She received a further £3,400 from the "Sturt Trust" on 3 January.

As well as manslaughter, 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.