Mark Gordon says Constance Marten would 'never harm a child'
- Published
Constance Marten and Mark Gordon deny all the charges
Constance Marten would "never do anything to harm a child", the Old Bailey has heard.
On Tuesday, jurors were read transcripts of a police interview with Mark Gordon on 2 March - the day after the couple's baby daughter was found dead in a shed in Brighton.
He said Ms Marten was "an excellent mother" who wanted to have the child.
The couple are accused of baby Victoria's manslaughter by gross negligence. They both deny the charge.
Mr Gordon initially refused to answer the police's questions, saying that he wanted to give his testimony in front of a jury.
But on hearing that Ms Marten had told officers what had happened to the child, and then consulting with his lawyer, he started answering questions, the jury heard.
Mr Gordon described Ms Marten as a "very special" and "awesome woman" who "would never do anything to harm a child under any circumstances".
He said what happened to their baby "had to be very traumatic" for Ms Marten.
The defendant added baby Victoria was the couple's fifth child and they "wanted to have that child".
He said Ms Marten was suffering from a "post-traumatic thing" at the time. "The things that were going on with her, that made her experience things on a different level."
"You have to understand, I love her, I love her, I would do anything for her and she loves children", Mr Gordon said. In another interview on the same date, the defendant described seeing his baby daughter's limp body as the "most harrowing experience" and "one of the worst things" he had seen in his life.
Mr Gordon described how he tried to resuscitate baby Victoria because she wasn't moving.
He said his "first instinct was, 'Can I bring this baby back to life'".
Despite his attempts, Mr Gordon said "it was to no avail".
He added: "she had no pulse. And it was like I couldn't believe what was happening".
Mr Gordon said what happened to their baby was "one of those things that… every parent dreads".
Earlier on the same day, Mr Gordon was asked how the death of the couple's baby had affected him mentally.
He said the couple loved the baby and that it was "sad that it happened like that", adding: "but I think… it's just one of those things. It was never predicted because when you lose four children to the system, that child was like, she wanted that child".
"And she is my wife, and... I love her and I wanna support her".
"And I don't think there was... ever an inkling of an intention and we didn't know for instance that the events would lead the way they did."
Mr Gordon repeated that he loved Ms Marten and said he would have "honestly done anything for her".
"Yeah I can, I can see that", the detective replied.
Mr Gordon responded: "Obsession. I would have done anything for her but then she's said what she has said now."
On Monday, the jury heard that Ms Marten had been advised by Mr Gordon to say the baby had died of cot death, but she instead told them that the baby had died while she had fallen asleep holding Victoria.
Mr Gordon was also asked about a car the couple were travelling in on the M61 near Manchester, which caught on fire in January last year.
He described it as "the strangest thing ever".
"My car exploded. I thought, I thought demolition. Smoke and then fire and then whoosh. That's what I thought of Hollywood. I said, 'how did that happen?'"
He said things "went down really quickly" when their car blew up. At one point during the police interview Mr Gordon described himself as a "feeling" and "sensitive" person.
He told the detective: "I have done everything I think right. If you listen to me, I have done nothing really wrong.
"I have supported my wife. Tried my best as a husband. And I don't think she has done anything wrong actually in trying to take care of her child".
It is alleged that the couple went on the run and slept in a tent "off-grid" for some seven weeks in a bid to keep the baby, after Ms Marten's four other children were taken into care.
The jury also heard from a meteorologist, Dr Richard Wild, about the records from weather stations near to Newhaven and Brighton on Tuesday.
He said the coldest temperature recorded during the time the couple were alleged to be camping in the area in January and February 2023 was -4.3C.
On 1 March last year, baby Victoria's body was found in a Lidl supermarket bag inside a disused shed on an allotment.
As well as manslaughter, Ms Marten and Mr Gordon 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.
They deny all charges.
The trial continues.