Jurors in the trial of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon, who are accused of causing the death of their newborn baby, Victoria, have been shown the first footage of the child. Victoria’s lifeless body was %%UKNIP_ANCHOR_0%% a Lidl ‘bag for life’ after her mother and partner went on the run.
Constance Marten, 36, and Mark Gordon, 49, are facing charges related to the %%UKNIP_ANCHOR_1%% of baby Victoria, with allegations that they intentionally lived off the grid in the middle of winter to avoid having her taken away by social services. The trial at the Old Bailey has heard that a placenta was found in a burnt-out car on a %%UKNIP_ANCHOR_2%% motorway on January 5, 2023, initiating a nationwide police hunt as the couple tried to evade capture.
Throughout their journey, the defendants spent considerable sums on taxi fares, travelling from the %%UKNIP_ANCHOR_3%% to Essex and eventually east London. In February of the same year, the couple was apprehended in %%UKNIP_ANCHOR_4%%, and the lifeless body of baby Victoria was found inside a Lidl supermarket bag, surrounded by refuse in an abandoned shed, where she had reportedly frozen to death.
Previously, %%UKNIP_ANCHOR_5%% suggested the presence of a baby beneath Marten’s coat, wrapped in a blanket or towel. However, today, %%UKNIP_ANCHOR_6%% of the newborn, captured on January 7, 2023, as her parents, cloaked in oversized jackets and hoodies, transported her in a babygrow.
The video footage revealed Constance Marten and Mark Gordon lifting baby Victoria out of a taxi before %%UKNIP_ANCHOR_7%% down in a kebab shop and placing her in a large buggy. Subsequent clips showed Marten carrying the baby under her coat before unzipping it to expose the child. They were also seen taking the baby to various locations, including %%UKNIP_ANCHOR_8%%, where Gordon purchased a tent at Argos before proceeding to Newhaven in East Sussex.
The trial has seen various testimonies from individuals who encountered the defendants during their time on the run. %%UKNIP_ANCHOR_9%%, bus passengers, and pedestrians provided accounts of their observations, including the sight of Marten with a baby concealed under her coat.
The defendants, Constance Marten and Mark Gordon, are %%UKNIP_ANCHOR_10%%, including 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 at the %%UKNIP_ANCHOR_11%% as the prosecution presents its case against the accused pair.
