‘Killer’ mum Constance Marten ‘considered cremating newborn in woods using bottle of petrol after finding baby dead’
A "SELFISH" aristocrat bought petrol to cremate her baby after claiming she woke up to find the newborn dead, a court heard.
Constance Marten, 36, and Mark Gordon, 49, allegedly concealed the birth of baby girl Victoria after she became pregnant in early 2022.
The pair then went on the run to stop her being taken away from them and lived in a "thin and flimsy" tent in the middle of winter, the Old Bailey heard.
Baby Victoria "spent much of her life" in a supermarket bag for life before her tragic death, it was said.
Her body was later discovered in the shopping bag covered in rubbish inside an abandoned shed like she was "refuse", it was said.
After she was arrested, Marten claimed she woke to find Victoria dead in her jacket while they were staying the countryside.
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In her police interview, the mum added: "When I woke up I was like crouched over her like that, holding her and she wasn't moving when I woke up. I don't know how long I'd been asleep.
"I saw she wasn't moving and her lips had gone blue.
"And, yeah, I don't know how long we slept, I don't know why she, make any noise, and it was just so tired, I don't know.
"Yeah. That's all I can say. I tried to resuscitate her, I tried to breathe in her mouth and pump her chest. And er, there was no response.
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"So I wrapped her in a scarf and cradled her for a few minutes. I didn't know what to do."
Marten also claimed she bought petrol as she had considered cremating the baby, it was said.
Opening the case today, prosecutor Tom Little KC said the case involved "the entirely avoidable death of a young baby".
Jurors were told Marten and Gordon have four other children who had been taken into care.
The prosecutor said: "A young baby girl who would still, we say, be alive if it was not for the reckless, utterly selfish, callous, cruel, arrogant and ultimately grossly negligent conduct of the two defendants on trial.
"They were the parents of that young baby girl. They put their relationship and their view of life before the life of that little baby girl.
"Rather than act in the obvious best interests of a vulnerable baby, one that they should have cared for and looked after, they decided instead that they knew best.
"They decided that they knew better than anyone else. No matter who they were. They decided to ignore the advice they had previously been given.
";And it was their selfish desire to keep their baby girl that led inexorably to the death of that very baby."
The court was told Marten and Gordon chose to "deprive the baby of what she needed" - including "warmth, shelter and food and ultimately safety".
In the middle of a "cold winter and in cruel and obviously dangerous weather conditions", the pair "essentially went off-grid".
Jurors heard they lived in a tent with barely any clothes and no means of keeping warm and dry.
With "scarcely" any food, Marten and Gordon remained on the run, failed to seek medical assistance or even register the birth as they moved from "location to the location", it was said.
Mr Little said: "When the hunt by the authorities to find them, which became national front page news almost exactly a year ago, intensified- so their desperate selfishness increased and so did the risks and dangers to that baby.
"This led to them camping in freezing and obviously dangerous conditions on the South Downs with insufficient clothing, equipment and food never once seeking any medical attention or assistance.
"And it was this grossly negligent and obviously dangerous conduct that caused the death of their baby daughter and which leads to them sitting before you on trial at the Old Bailey."
The court was told the authorities were first alerted to the existence of the baby when they found placenta wrapped in a towel on January 5 last year.
The body part was discovered in a car that was seen burning on the M61 near Manchester, it was said.
Other items officers found included "new baby" nappies and newborn clothing, as well as "burner phones".
A missing person's enquiry was launched, which became "bigger and bigger news" as time went on, jurors were told.
But instead of contacting police, Marten and Gordon allegedly instead tried to hide their whereabouts.
They travelled from Bolton to Liverpool in a taxi with the baby kept underneath Marten's coat, it was said.
From here, the pair got another cab to Harwich in Suffolk around 270 miles away and checked into a Premier Inn.
Jurors heard they were asked by locals if they were the "people they had seen on the news" so the couple left for Colchester then London.
They allegedly bought camping supplies despite the weather and transferred the baby into the supermarket bag.
Mr Little said: "It would have been plain to the defendants, you must have thought, that this was an utterly inappropriate way to care for any child and remember at all times in this case the time of year and the weather conditions."
Despite coming from a "wealthy" family, Marten and Gordon "scavenged"; food from bins and used furniture stuffing to keep warm.
When he was arrested, Gordon allegedly demanded sweets from police and sat eating crisps on the floor.
Jurors were told Marten became pregnant with Victoria in early 2022 after four of her and Gordon's other children had been taken into care.
By the end of the year, the pair were said to be living an off-grid existence amid fears their new baby would also be removed, it was said.
On December 20, they booked into a holiday cottage in Northumberland but left it seven days later "in something of a state".
The court heard there was food scattered around, as well as "noticeable" stains left, but the bedding and sheets had been cleaned.
On December 28, their car broke down and a Highway Recovery worker who went to collect them believed they had been living in the vehicle.
Although he did not notice a baby, the back and side windows of the Suzuki had been blocked by clothing.
Mr Little said: "The importance of this evidence is that the recovery driver did not see or hear any baby at any time, nor was any reference made to a baby.
"So you will have to consider in that context any suggestion that the baby had been born at this time. If so, where was it? If so, did they leave it in the car? If so, why leave it in the car?"
Marten and Gordon deny manslaughter by gross negligence, concealment of the birth of a child, cruelty to a person under 16 and perverting the course of justice.
They also deny causing or allowing the death of a child, an alternative charge to manslaughter, between 4 January and 27 February last year.
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Marten's father was a page to the late Queen, while her grandmother was a goddaughter to the Queen Mother.
The trial, which is set to last six weeks, continues.
