logo
Warning signs of killer mum who dumped dead baby in Lidl bag

Warning signs of killer mum who dumped dead baby in Lidl bag

Daily Record19-07-2025
Those early signs of disconnect were there when Marten embarked on student life.
Previous lecturers and colleague's have expressed warning signs a killer mum showed years before dumping her dead baby in a Lidl bag.

Constance Marten had a wealthy, privileged upbringing. But her trial heard she 'never really had a strong connection' with her family and eventually became estranged from them.

But later in life she became a mother who allowed her own helpless child to die in freezing conditions, then kept her body in a shopping bag for days or even weeks after her death.

The Mirror has now reported she displayed a similar lack of bonding with fellow students when she studied to become a journalist.
The aloof personality trait could stand as a marker of how Marten descended into a mother who allowed her own helpless child to die in freezing conditions, then kept her body in a shopping bag for days or even weeks after her death.

Those early signs of disconnect were there when Marten embarked on student life. She had enrolled on a intensive postgraduate journalism course in a bid to become a reporter 10 years ago having already spent some time interning with news organisation Al Jazeera after studying Arabic at Leeds university.
One of her lecturers said, Marten was unassuming and didn't boast about her wealth to her fellow students - but was unable to form close relationships with them.
Marten had grown up with brothers Maximilian, 35, and Tobias, 32, at the 'immensely large' property, which provided the backdrop to Gwyneth Paltrow's 1996 film, Emma, boasts 25 rooms, a ballroom and a wine cellar and overlooks a crescent-shaped lake.

The 37-year-old had been re-tried at the Old Bailey after her fifth child died at just a few weeks old when she and partner Mark Gordon, 49 decided to go on the run fearing their daughter would be put into care, as their four elder children had been.
The both denied charges of manslaughter by gross negligence of their daughter Victoria between January 4 and February 27, last year - but were unanimously found guilty.

The defendants, of no fixed address, had been convicted of child cruelty, perverting the course of justice and concealing the birth of a child at their first child at a previous trial. Marten and Gordon both lost an appeal against those first trial convictions and will be sentenced on September 15.
During both trials, Marten defended her decision to live in a tent with her newborn baby, and said the baby died when she fell asleep after breastfeeding. The prosecution said Victoria died from hypothermia or was smothered while co-sleeping in a 'flimsy' tent on the South Downs.

The infant's remains were found in an allotment shed inside the supermarket bag, along with a sandwich wrapper and an empty beer can.
In an insight into her selfish personality, Marten claimed she hadn't reported the child's death because she feared being cast as "some evil mother, a murderess" and added: "I don't trust the police.'
Speaking about Marten's time as a journalism student, Fiona, who was Head of Diploma Training at the Press Association, said she felt Marten was confident but never really formed a close bond with anyone.

She said: "She stood out and I remember her. During the first few days she stood up and introduced herself as Toots, so we all knew her as Toots, not Constance, it was a family nickname, and she used it as her name, like posh people do.
"She was confident and smiley, she told everyone that she had been in New York taking photos and wanted to become a photojournalist. I looked at her photos and I thought they were really good, she had taken some nice stuff.
"We didn't know she came from money, she never mentioned her family. She spoke well, she had a very posh accent as if she spent a lot of years in private school.

"She was obviously privately educated, she had already done a bit of freelancing. Some people came to us straight from university and others had tried freelancing then realised they needed the basics, like media law and shorthand.
"She was a bit off beat, she would sometimes appear a bit dishevelled. She would turn up in things that looked quite expensive but she wasn't flashy. She fit in with the others but her tops weren't from Primark, although there were no Prada handbags."
Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community!
Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today.
You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team.
All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in!
If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'.
We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like.
To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.

Fiona, who was one of the trainers at the PA offices in Victoria, London, remembered that Marten appeared a bit lost and didn't really have the drive to be a reporter, unlike most people who were on 17-week course for those who already had a degree.
She said: "People on these intense courses often formed friendships very quickly, that often stick throughout their career.
"She was friendly with everybody and people liked her but I wouldn't say she had a close friend. She felt a little bit like someone who could easily be taken advantage of. She was very trusting of people. She seemed a bit lost.
"She wasn't as driven to be a journalist as most people on the course were. She was a little bit lost and slightly naive. She was really trying to do something and have a career and be independent it seemed."
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Hanging up the car keys for good: the decision to stop driving is complicated, but are age-based restrictions the answer?
Hanging up the car keys for good: the decision to stop driving is complicated, but are age-based restrictions the answer?

The Guardian

time3 hours ago

  • The Guardian

Hanging up the car keys for good: the decision to stop driving is complicated, but are age-based restrictions the answer?

Hiding car keys and deflating the car's tyres were some of the steps Melbourne woman Beth Nielsen took to prevent her grandfather from getting behind the wheel in the final years of his life. Nielsen's grandfather had been diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2016 but remained determined to drive. Some nights he would sleep with his car keys under his pillow. 'It was his obsession,' Nielsen says. 'It became a massive ordeal in the family to try to manage.' Despite having his licence revoked in 2018 after a family member reported him to authorities, Nielsen says her grandfather, aged in his late 80s, continued trying to drive and was 'obsessed with getting his licence back'. 'It turned into this sort of twisted tale, because it was clear by that stage he actually didn't have the capacity to realise that he wasn't safe to drive,' she says. Nielsen's grandfather died in 2019. In the final months of his life, he struggled with the loss of independence and may have felt like his family were 'out to get him', Nielsen says. 'When it's the last years of your loved one's life, you don't want to be having these arguments with them,' she says. 'We felt like the bad guys.' Decisions about when an older person should stop driving can be difficult for both the driver and their loved ones. Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads After decades behind the wheel, Ray, also from Melbourne, decided to hang up his car keys in his late 80s. The 91-year-old had been diagnosed with Ménière's disease in his 20s and suffered bouts of balance issues throughout his life. As he approached his 90th birthday and his health deteriorated, Ray, who requested his surname not be used, and his wife agreed she would be the couple's primary driver. 'I've done a lot of kilometres but I didn't want to be a burden to other people,' he says. 'I just felt it wasn't fair [to keep driving].' A fatal crash near a playground in Wantirna South in Melbourne's east on 10 July involving a 91-year-old female driver has placed rules for elderly drivers across Australia under scrutiny. The crash resulted in the deaths of two pedestrians – a 59-year-old woman and 60-year-old man. A two-year-old boy suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Speaking afterwards, Supt Justin Goldsmith said the car lost control near an intersection and mounted the footpath. On Friday, the woman was interviewed by police and released pending further inquiries. Unlike other Australian jurisdictions, Victoria has no mandatory age-based restrictions or required testing for elderly drivers. But drivers are still required by law to inform the roads authority, VicRoads, of any long-term medical conditions or injuries that may affect their ability to drive safely. Members of the public can also make referrals to VicRoads if they have concerns about someone's ability to drive safely. After the Wantirna South crash, the Victorian government flagged it would consider changing testing rules for older drivers. Asked if elderly Victorians should have to prove their fitness to drive, the state's deputy premier, Ben Carroll, said it was a 'valid' question. Carroll said he would work with the state's road safety minister, Melissa Horne, on this matter but did not outline potential reform the state would consider. A Victorian Department of Transport and Planning spokesperson last week said the state would review the 'current approach to licensing fitness to drive'. Guardian Australia understands the DTP is partnering with Monash University to review the effectiveness of mandatory reporting and assessment. Road safety experts say while research is limited, it does not show that jurisdictions with mandatory age-based testing regimes have lower crash rates than Victoria. New South Wales is the only state that mandates a practical driving assessment for older drivers (from 85) every two years. In Queensland, drivers over 75 are required to have a doctor assess them and, when on the road, carry a current medical certificate showing they are fit to drive. The Australian Capital Territory has a similar model, requiring drivers over 76 to undergo yearly medical assessments. In Western Australia, annual medical assessments are mandatory for drivers from 80. Victorian woman Sophie, 46, was involved in an accident earlier this month with a 102-year-old driver who reversed into her vehicle. 'The driver couldn't hear my horn and I wasn't able to get out of the way as there was another car behind me,' she says. 'I leapt out of my car and knocked on his window and he didn't register [that] I was there. When I opened his door he looked surprised.' Sophie, who requested her last name not be used, says the driver was struggling to hear her when they exchanged licence details. 'I was just concerned that he's driving around with no ability to hear other people and clearly not looking,' she says. Victorian motorists aged over 65 were responsible for at least 145 road deaths and more than 7,000 injuries in the five years to June 2023, police data shows. But Dr Sjaan Koppel, an associate professor at the Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC), says there is no direct correlation between age and fitness to drive. 'A driver of any age can have medical conditions. They can have functional impairments associated with those medical conditions and even the ageing process starts from the age of 40 in terms of a reduction in vision,' she says. Sign up to Five Great Reads Each week our editors select five of the most interesting, entertaining and thoughtful reads published by Guardian Australia and our international colleagues. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Saturday morning after newsletter promotion 'We can see young, novice drivers who might also have medical conditions that make them unfit to drive, and the same with older people.' A 2011 study led by Koppel found that older drivers were involved in few crashes in terms of absolute numbers, but noted they represented one of the highest risk categories for crashes involving serious injury and death per number of drivers, and per distance travelled. Koppel says one of the reasons older people are overrepresented in crash and serious injury statistics is due to frailty bias. 'As we age … we have changes in our neuromuscular strength,' she says. 'If we are involved in a crash, regardless of whether it's our fault or not, we do have a propensity to be more injured in that crash.' Koppel says there is limited research that has examined whether certain licensing requirements reduce crash rates. A 2004 study by MUARC concluded that jurisdictions with age-based mandatory assessment programs did not have lower crash rates than Victoria. Another study concluded that mandatory assessment programs had no 'demonstrable safety benefits' for older driver fatalities or other road user fatalities. Swinburne University's Dr Amie Hayley, who has a research interest in impaired driving, pointed to a 2023 study which found after mandatory cognitive screening for Japanese drivers over 75 was introduced in 2017, there was a decrease in vehicle collisions but an increase in road injuries among older people as pedestrians and cyclists. Hayley says Japan's screening tool is intended to capture the most severe forms of decline, including dementia. She says the results suggest that a simple cognitive screen can be useful to identify groups potentially most at risk. In Victoria, there is no mandate for GPs to inform VicRoads if they have concerns about a person's fitness to drive. South Australia and the Northern Territory are the only Australian jurisdictions that legally require certain health professionals, including GPs, to report a patient's medical condition to the licensing authority if they believe it makes them unfit to drive safely. Dr Kate Gregorevic, a Melbourne-based geriatrician, says the gold standard is an on-the-road driving assessment with an occupational therapist. She says a lack of mandated age-based assessments in Victorian means conversations about driving in older age are not normalised. 'The reality is, as people get older, they're more likely to have conditions that impact driving, things like cardiovascular conditions, things like diabetes, but particularly dementia,' she says. 'Some people will decide they're not going to drive at night any more. Some people will decide that they're only going to drive in their local area. But unfortunately, particularly people living with dementia don't have the insight to make these kinds of decisions for themselves.' Gregorevic, who works predominately in hospitals, says telling people they are unfit to drive is challenging. 'I never enjoy telling someone that they're not able to drive,' she says. Dr Anita Muñoz, the Victorian chair of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), says mandatory testing could mean a driver outsources the responsibility for making a decision to drive to a third party. 'It can give people a false sense of confidence that nothing will happen if they get behind the wheel,' she says. Muñoz says older Australians and people with chronic illnesses should see their GP regularly to discuss their fitness to drive. Council on the Ageing Victoria opposes mandatory driving tests for older motorists, saying they constituted an 'ageist' and 'arbitrary' approach that failed to reflect the variation in experiences of ageing. The chief executive of the council, Ben Rogers, says it continues to support Victoria's approach, which 'emphasise[s] your behaviour and medical fitness to drive'. 'Ageing is undoubtedly connected to changes that may impact the ability of older people to drive – such as vision loss, hearing loss and slower movement and response times – but these can impact Victorian drivers of any age,' he said in a statement.

Teen woman, 18, suffers life-changing injuries after ‘getting hair caught in funfair ride'
Teen woman, 18, suffers life-changing injuries after ‘getting hair caught in funfair ride'

Scottish Sun

time11 hours ago

  • Scottish Sun

Teen woman, 18, suffers life-changing injuries after ‘getting hair caught in funfair ride'

Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) AN 18-YEAR-old has been rushed to hospital with potentially life-changing injuries after her hair got caught in a funfair ride. The horror unfolded at Netley Marsh Steam and Craft Show, near Southampton, in Hampshire, at 10.53pm on Saturday. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up Paramedics rushed the girl to hospital with head injuries after her hair reportedly became stuck in one of the rides. Fairgoer Emma Perry, who was there with her daughter, described the "traumatic" scenes. She told the DailyEcho: "The girl was on the oscillating floor in the Fun House when she slipped, fell backwards and her hair got caught in the rollers on the floor. 'Her friend came off the ride and said she was bleeding, so I offered my services as a first aider. 'When I got up there, I saw that three quarters of the girl's scalp had been ripped off in what we call a degloving incident." Emma claimed the teen was taken away on a stretcher, while fire crews had to cut a section of the ride away. Thee 51-year-old recalled the youngster was "screaming" and "very distressed". Another bystander who helped the teen told the BBC: "One of the girl's friends came down and said how serious it was and some of us offered assistance. "It's very shocking it could happen on a fairground ride that young children go on. This must never happen again." Charles Cole, who runs the event, dubbed it a "freak accident" that was under investigation. He told the Echo: "Nobody wants to hurt anyone, and we are a family business. Last night was very upsetting, especially for the man who owns the ride. "Safety is our priority, and we sympathise with the girl and her parents." Cllr David Harrison said he is "shocked and saddened" by the incident. He added: "I am sure it will be properly investigated and any necessary action taken. "My thoughts are with the injured person, family and friends." A Health and Safety Executive spokesperson said the incident was "local authority enforced and with Hampshire police". A Hampshire Police spokesperson said: "We were called at 10.53pm on July 26 with reports that an 18-year-old woman had sustained potentially life-changing injuries to her head while on a ride at Netley Marsh Steam and Craft Show. "She was taken to hospital for treatment. "Police attended and have liaised with the Health and Safety Executive." Meanwhile the fair announced today: "Good morning from day three of the show. "Despite what you may have read or seen online, we are open and look forward to seeing you all!" 1 An 18-year-old has been rushed to hospital More to follow... For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Sun Online is your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video. Like us on Facebook at and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSun.

White Widow: NI-born terror suspect ‘becomes mum-of-six in polyamorous marriage with Islamic militant warlord'
White Widow: NI-born terror suspect ‘becomes mum-of-six in polyamorous marriage with Islamic militant warlord'

Belfast Telegraph

time12 hours ago

  • Belfast Telegraph

White Widow: NI-born terror suspect ‘becomes mum-of-six in polyamorous marriage with Islamic militant warlord'

Now believed to be in a polygamous marriage with Islamist commander Osman Abdullahi Dhaga'ade and his two other spouses, the Banbridge-born woman has reportedly given birth to two additional children, while evading capture as one of the world's most sought-after terror suspects. The 41-year-old was previously married to 7/7 London bomber Germaine Lindsay – who blew himself up on a London Underground train in July 2005 – and is thought to have had four children from two earlier marriages linked to extremist circles. Lewthwaite is accused of being involved in numerous terror attacks in Kenya, where she lived for a time after leaving the UK, and has been linked to as many as 400 deaths, also appearing on Interpol's 'most wanted' list. Sources reportedly told MailOnline the fugitive was last seen on July 8 in the southern city of Jilib – the de facto capital of the Islamic Emirate of Somalia, controlled by al-Shabaab. It's claimed Lewthwaite had also been spotted recently in other areas in the south with the family regularly switching locations for security reasons while protected by an elite squad of heavily armed bodyguards. Somali intelligence allegedly revealed that 'in 2023, she tried to leave Somalia to go to Yemen or Kenya, but al-Shabaab failed to find her a safe route, so had to stay in Somalia'. "The British woman helps recruit foreign fighters, especially women. She gets protection from her husband as he is high up in al-Shabaab. She speaks Somali and Arabic.' An al-Shabaab source said Lewthwaite was 'highly regarded and respected' within the terror group. He also told MailOnline: 'She lives in several houses located in different areas. She does not move during the day but only at night and is highly protected by heavily armed elite Amniyat close protection security guards, which also includes women guards. 'The white woman also always carries a pistol and sometimes a rifle for her protection. ''She does not stay in one location for long with her husband; they move around a lot." Lewthwaite was born and spent much of her childhood in Banbridge, before moving to Aylesbury and later converting to Islam. In Kenya, she is alleged to have posed as a Northern Irish charity worker to conceal her identity. She was reportedly using Italian documents and claimed she was working for a charity called Friends of Africa, based in Newry. The charity confirmed it had no knowledge of such a person. Her story is now being turned to film, with Lewthwaite set to be portrayed by Game of Thrones and The Last of Us star Bella Ramsey.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store