The Old Bailey trial of Constance Marten and her partner Mark Gordon has opened with harrowing details of their newborn baby's death while the couple lived off-grid in a tent on the South Downs last winter.
The 36-year-old aristocrat and Gordon, 49, are charged with gross negligence manslaughter of their daughter Victoria, as well as concealing the birth of a child, perverting the course of justice, and child cruelty.
The court heard how the couple, who met in 2014, embarked on a "deliberate and purposeful" attempt to conceal Marten's pregnancy and keep the child away from authorities. They allegedly lived in a tent on the South Downs in January 2023 during some of the year's coldest weather.
A Life in Hiding
Prosecutor Tom Little KC told jurors that the defendants' "reckless, utterly selfish and callous conduct" led directly to their baby's death. The court was told they had avoided medical attention during pregnancy and after the birth, which occurred in early January.
Little stated: "They decided that they knew best and that they were not going to allow what they considered to be the interference of the state, via the NHS, social services, or similar, to look after their new-born baby."
The Final Days
The jury heard that the couple traveled by taxi from Bolton to Harwich, then to East London, before heading south to Newhaven in Sussex. They were eventually arrested in Brighton on February 27th, 2023, but their baby was not with them.
Little added: "The defendants' conduct to avoid the authorities and the police in particular is demonstrated by the fact that they paid for everything in cash, they used false names, and they changed their SIM cards."
The trial, expected to last several weeks, continues as the prosecution presents its case about the circumstances that led to this tragedy.
