Constance Marten denies 'dumping' baby's body in bag
- Published
Constance Marten at the Old Bailey on a previous day of the hearing
Constance Marten has denied that she "dumped" her new-born baby's body in a shopping bag full of rubbish.
She insisted that Victoria was "placed" in the Lidl bag after she died. The girl's remains were found in a shed on a Brighton allotment on 1 March 2023.
On Wednesday, Ms Marten, 36, described co-defendant Mark Gordon, 49, as an "amazing husband" and said "we know how to look after a child."
The couple deny manslaughter by gross negligence.
On Ms Marten's fourth day giving evidence at the Old Bailey, she explained that they had decided to remove themselves from society and knew they would have no access to heating or hot water.
"There are societies like Bedouins", she told the court.
"They walk through cold deserts with children and they survive."
'Jesus survived in a barn'
"Jesus survived in a barn, didn't he?"
Ms Marten was describing the couple's actions in East London, two days after their car caught fire near Bolton on 5 January last year.
The incident sparked a nationwide search after a placenta was found in the vehicle.
The baby died while the trio were camping on the South Downs in wintry conditions.
They were travelling with a satchel and a Lidl bag for life, and baby Victoria, who had been born on Christmas Eve 2022, according to Ms Marten.
She said that the couple had a ski-suit style romper for the baby, but the prosecution say it is not shown on any of the CCTV images, which only show her wearing a baby grow with teddy bears on it.
Ms Marten said the couple had a small quilt, too, which the prosecution are also questioning.
When they got out of a cab in East Ham, the baby can be seen in her baby grow.
Joel Smith, for the prosecution, asked: "Did it occur to you that this would be a good time to put on her baby camouflage suit?"
A court sketch of Mr Gordon and Ms Marten from a previous day in court
"No, because she was warm against my skin," Ms Marten replied.
"I used to babysit some kids in Switzerland when I was a teenager and they had a new-born baby and a three-year-old. I would take the baby in a pram down the ski slope in a snow blizzard.
"We would be out there for hours."
Mr Smith suggested that she had "dumped" baby Victoria's body, which was found badly decomposed, in a shopping bag.
"I wouldn't say dump," the defendant responded.
"How would you describe putting a child's body in a plastic bag with rubbish?" Mr Smith asked.
Ms Marten said she would use the word "place."
Later in proceedings, she criticised the line of questioning, saying: "I haven't put my live baby in a bag. It's ridiculous."
"I am not going to put her alive in a Lidl bag."
Earlier, she had said: "Mark and I weren't in a really good place. We were completely gripped with fear and grief.
"Mark and I work as a team with our children. We know how to look after a child."
In East Ham, the jury was told the couple went to a German Doner Kebab restaurant, and Mr Gordon went off to buy a buggy suitable for a toddler.
When the couple left the restaurant, baby Victoria was still in her baby grow, under a footmuff, the court heard.
Mr Smith asked: "That would have been a good time to put the blue camouflage suit on, wouldn't it?"
"I am going to suggest to you the reason why we never see that blue camouflage suit on the CCTV is because you didn't have it."
"No", Ms Marten replied.
She said that while in East Ham, the couple decided the risk of being recognised was too high, so they opted to go the countryside.
"Mark and I are quite traumatised by what happened with the other children," Ms Marten said, referring to their four other children, whom the jury have been told were all taken into care after an alleged incident of domestic violence.
Constance Marten and Mark Gordon both deny all the charges
"We realised a flat isn't feasible", Ms Marten continued.
"We were going to have try and get somewhere in the countryside."
She described the decision as "very easy", but said while she "would rather be in a plush bed in a palace", she would sleep in a tent for her child.
"I had to save my child… We were in a tent for Victoria", Ms Marten added.
"I had to protect her from being taken."
When it was suggested to her that camping in January with a newborn was a bad idea, she said: "I've gone camping a lot in my life. It was only for a pitstop until we can try and find somewhere down there.
"You are looking at this from a really Western perspective. You are looking at it from a first-world perspective, we weren't intending to live in a tent.
"We were intending to lay low for a couple of days."
Later, she said: "It was just a very sad set of circumstances and a tragic accident that could have happened anywhere but we happened to be in a tent."
Mr Smith earlier asked: "Did either of you say anything along the lines of 'this isn't a good idea'?"
Ms Marten replied: "My other choice was put her in care."
She and Mr Gordon, of no fixed address, deny manslaughter by gross negligence, perverting the course of justice, concealing the birth of a child, child cruelty and causing or allowing the death of a child.
The trial continues.