Fugitive aristocrat and partner snared after dramatic Brighton arrest
High-stakes capture in Brighton
Constance Marten, 36, and partner Mark Gordon, 49, were snapped up by police in Brighton’s Hollingbury on February 27 last year. The couple had been dodging the law while living rough in a tent on the South Downs with their newborn. Their vanishing act sparked a nationwide manhunt, turning them into front-page fugitives.
Baby Victoria found in chilling discovery
Their freedom finally ended when a vigilant member of the public spotted them, leading to their arrest. But the shock didn’t stop there. Authorities found their baby, Victoria, hidden in a Lidl bag dumped in a shed full of rubbish on March 1 – a heartbreaking twist that haunts the ongoing Old Bailey trial.
Desperate details from arrest footage
Police Sergeant Robert Button, one of the officers who caught the couple, described them as “unclean and unwashed” with makeshift insulation clothes “like furniture stuffing.” Bodycam footage captured tense moments as officers kept asking about the baby, but Marten said nothing.
Trail of evasion and grim evidence
- The drama began months earlier when Greater Manchester Police launched a missing persons probe after finding a placenta in the pair’s burnt-out car on a Bolton motorway.
- CCTV showed them wandering desperate, trying to break into a golf course and shoplift food in Hollingbury.
- Eyewitness Dale Cooley acted fast, alerting police after running into the couple — highlighting the vital role of public vigilance.
Facing serious charges at the Old Bailey
Marten and Gordon deny all charges, including manslaughter by gross negligence, concealing a birth, and child cruelty linked to baby Victoria’s death. The trial casts a harsh light on mental health, homelessness, and gaps in social support.
The tragic saga is more than a crime story – it’s a grim wake-up call about how society treats its most vulnerable.
