Constance Marten has been granted permission to appeal the 14-year jail sentence she received for the death of her baby daughter while on the run with her partner, Mark Gordon. The 39-year-old aristocrat and Gordon, 52, were in hiding when their daughter Victoria died in a tent on the South Downs in southern England in January 2023.
Flight from police and trial
The couple had fled from police to prevent Victoria being taken into care, as four other siblings had been before, their Old Bailey trial was told. Marten and Gordon were found guilty of manslaughter, child cruelty, concealing the birth of a child, and perverting the course of justice following two trials spanning six months each.
Judge Mark Lucraft KC jailed both for 14 years and handed Gordon a further four years on extended licence. Marten has now been granted permission to appeal the sentence and renewed her application for permission to appeal her gross negligence manslaughter conviction. A court date is yet to be set.
Judge's findings on baby's death
Judge Lucraft accepted the prosecution's case that baby Victoria died from hypothermia after being exposed to “significant cold stress”. He rejected the defendants’ claims that Victoria was smothered in a “terrible accident” as they slept in the tent. The offending was made worse because the baby was vulnerable and the defendants failed to listen to past warnings.
In a televised sentencing, Judge Lucraft told the defendants: “It is clear throughout the period neither of you gave much or any thought for the care or love for your baby.” The judge said they had displayed “arrogance” and treated Victoria to “neglect of the most serious type”.
Nationwide hunt and arrest
Police had launched a nationwide hunt after the couple’s car burst into flames on a motorway near Bolton, Greater Manchester, on January 5, 2023. The defendants travelled across England and went off-grid, sleeping in a tent on the South Downs where baby Victoria died days later. After seven weeks on the run, the defendants were arrested in Brighton.
After a desperate search, police found their baby dead amid rubbish inside a Lidl bag in a disused shed nearby.
