Constance Marten has been granted permission to appeal her 14-year prison sentence for the manslaughter of her baby daughter, who died while she was on the run with her boyfriend.
The 39-year-old aristocrat was found hiding out after her infant child Victoria died in a tent on the South Downs in January 2023. Baby Victoria was discovered dead after her parents went to live off-grid in a "thin and flimsy" tent in the middle of winter.
Conviction and sentencing
Marten and Mark Gordon were both found guilty of manslaughter, child cruelty, concealing the birth and perverting the course of justice after two trials at the Old Bailey. Judge Mark Lucraft KC handed down 14 years each, with Gordon getting an extra four years on licence.
Marten has now been granted permission to appeal that sentence, and she is also pushing to overturn her gross negligence manslaughter conviction.
Judge's findings
No court date has been fixed yet, although the judge agreed with prosecutors that baby Victoria froze to death after being left out in the bitter cold, and dismissed the couple's claims that she had been accidentally smothered while they slept in the tent.
Lucraft said the crime was made worse because the infant was so vulnerable and the pair ignored previous warnings. In a televised sentencing, he said: "It is clear throughout the period neither of you gave much or any thought for the care or love for your baby." He branded their behaviour "arrogant" and accused them of treating Victoria to "neglect of the most serious type".
Manhunt and discovery
Police launched a massive nationwide manhunt after the couple's car went up in flames on a motorway near Bolton in January 2023. They then vanished across England, living off-grid in a tent where little Victoria died days later.
After seven weeks on the run they were finally arrested in Brighton. Officers later found the baby's body stuffed in a Lidl bag among rubbish in a nearby disused shed.
