Latest news with #MarkGordon
Daily Mail
20-07-2025
- Daily Mail
How Constance Marten and Mark Gordon employed 'covert tactics' like an 'organised crime gang' to evade police for 53 days
Constance Marten and Mark Gordon used covert tactics 'consistent with an organised crime group' to stay ahead of a nationwide manhunt lasting 53 days, claim police officers involved in their case. Their flight from justice began on a wet and freezing Thursday night in January 2023, when firefighters found what they believed was a body part inside a burning car on the M61 near Bolton. Motorists had seen a man frantically pulling belongings from the blaze while a woman stood beside him, clutching a tiny baby. They were quickly identified as Constance Marten, then 35, a former aristocrat with access to a large trust fund, and Mark Gordon, 48, a convicted sex offender who had served 20 years in a US prison. The baby was Victoria - a child they had kept hidden from authorities. Detective Inspector Dave Sinclair was called to the scene, he told the Sunday Times: 'With very scant detail we were able to build up quite an informed picture in a relatively short time. But they had the advantage of time.' The couple's 53-day disappearance would end in tragedy with the discovery of baby Victoria's body in a plastic bag beneath a pile of clutter. Last week, following a retrial, the pair were convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence, having already been found guilty of perverting the course of justice, child cruelty, and concealing the birth of a child. On January 5 2023 Greater Manchester Police launched a missing persons search after finding a placenta in the couple's burnt-out car on a motorway near Bolton The 'body part' turned out to be a placenta wrapped in a bloodstained towel, it was discovered in the car alongside Marten's passport, £2,000 in cash, a live cat in a box, and 34 phones and Sim cards. Wet paperwork recovered from the vehicle revealed the couple's names for the first time, despite the car being falsely registered. Officers immediately set about combing the area with sniffer dogs, but the couple were already gone - hitching a lift into Bolton, then taking two taxis to confuse the authorities and get across the country. They paid in cash for both, travelling first to Liverpool, then 270 miles southeast to Essex. One driver later told police he saw Marten breastfeeding the baby under her coat. Unable to deploy a helicopter due to high winds, Sinclair assembled every available detective in the force and began a round-the-clock operation. However, thanks to Marten's privileged background, the pair were well prepared. Detectives believe she withdrew more than £25,000 from her trust fund to support their plan to go off-grid and ultimately flee abroad. By the time the investigation was handed over to Essex Police, the couple were already several days into their escape. Detective Chief Inspector Rob Huddleston immediately declared a critical incident as Harwich, where the couple had been sighted, is a port town so the police were concerned they would try to get on a boat to Europe. 'We knew that she'd recently given birth. It was [a case of] pulling out all the stops, really, so we could ensure that little child was all right,' he said. Huddleston's team began searching every hotel and B&B in Harwich and nearby Colchester, before they soon figured out that the couple were moving between the two towns, in an attempt to mislead the police. From Colchester, they took a taxi to East Ham in east London, then another cab took them to Whitechapel, where they bought camping gear, before continuing to north London. Then, in the early hours of their fourth day on the run, they travelled to the south coast. They paid £470 in cash to reach Newhaven, East Sussex. During the journey, the taxi driver said he heard a sound 'like a cat meowing' from under Marten's coat - he hadn't realised it was a baby until four hours into the trip. From here, the couple disappeared into the wilderness of the South Downs, camping in freezing, stormy conditions. Marten later described how they survived by collecting rainwater from a nearby farm and using baby wipes to clean themselves. Victoria slept between the two of them in a 'thing made out of sleeping bags'. In court Marten defended their actions saying: 'Jesus survived in a barn, didn't he? There are societies like Bedouins … They walk through cold deserts with children and they survive.' But somewhere between January 8 and 9, baby Victoria died. According to Marten's barrister Francis FitzGibbon KC, she 'fell asleep with her baby after breastfeeding' and the death was a 'tragic accident', while Gordon's lawyer, John Femi-Ola KC, argued that 'co-sleeping' was 'not a crime'. Prosecutors argued the baby likely died from smothering or hypothermia and that the death was 'entirely avoidable'. Despite this, the couple continued to hide - moving under the cover of night, avoiding phones and bank cards, and only using cash. In one sighting at a Texaco garage on January 12, Marten was seen filling a bottle with petrol. She later told police it was intended to cremate the body, but she changed her mind. For the next 40 nights, they were seen only by dog walkers - always in remote areas near the Seven Sisters cliffs. The Metropolitan Police eventually took over the investigation: 'Most suspects can't live off-grid. They don't have the financial capability [or] the practical capacity,' said Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford. 'This couple were displaying the same level of covert tactics that we would expect from an organised crime group.' The National Crime Agency joined the hunt, looking into possible smuggling routes, cash transactions, and known associates. 'All the skills and tactics that we would use for major crime, for terrorism, were considered and, where appropriate, employed,' said NCA adviser Noel McHugh. Still, the couple stayed hidden. On day 46, they were spotted in Stanmer Park, Brighton. One woman, who would later call the police, said Victoria's head was 'wobbling' and her skin 'very, very pale … I do think that baby died. It was dead.' Finally, on February 27 - day 54 - Marten made three cash withdrawals at a Brighton shopping centre. Gordon, using a stick and with his foot wrapped in a plastic bag, accompanied her. When police moved in, within six minutes of learning about the transaction, Gordon reportedly said: 'What's the big deal?' Marten gave a false name and asked: 'Why am I under arrest anyway? For doing what? … You can't arrest someone for hiding a pregnancy.' Despite repeated questioning, neither would reveal what had happened to the baby. In freezing rain, more than 100 square miles of the South Downs were searched. Drones, helicopters, quad bikes and sniffer dogs were all deployed. While officers searched sheds, ditches and dense woodland. 'People were refusing to go home at the end of their shift,' said Chief Superintendent James Collis of Sussex Police. On March 1, a breakthrough — a disused shed at Lower Roedale allotments. Inside, a Lidl carrier bag hidden under clutter was baby Victoria. PC Allen Ralph said he first saw the infant's head - 'it looked like a 'doll' - and then her decomposed leg. Victoria had been dead for weeks. Despite attempts by Marten to blame others, including her family, the media, and even the police, the jury unanimously found that she and Gordon were responsible for their daughter's death. 'This was a self-absorbed relationship between two selfish and arrogant individuals,' said prosecutor Tom Little KC. 'Caught in the middle of that toxic relationship was a baby that was manifestly not being cared for properly.' 'In her very short life,' he added, 'baby Victoria did not stand a chance.' Marten and Gordon, now 38 and 51, will be sentenced by Judge Mark Lucraft KC on September 15.
The Sun
19-07-2025
- The Sun
Constance Marten moans she's ‘treated like a killer' in jail & brands inmates and lawyers ‘Dementors' from Harry Potter
Constance Marten has complained that she's "treated like a killer" in jail and brands her prosecutors like soul-sucking "Dementors." Posh prisoner Marten, 38, and Mark Gordon, 51, were convicted of gross negligence manslaughter after the death of their baby girl. 7 7 7 In a bitter rant to The View Magazine, a publication promoting reform for women in custody, Marten moaned about being 'treated like a killer' in jail. This is despite being found guilty over the death of her baby daughter. Marten and rapist boyfriend Gordon were convicted after their newborn Victoria was found dead in a Lidl shopping bag. Speaking from behind bars, Marten was very critical of her prosecutors and bizarrely told the prison magazine that they reminded her of the soul-sucking creatures in Harry Potter. "There's no empathy. I felt like I was being grilled as a serial killer." The 37-year-old aristocrat is locked up in HMP Bronzefield alongside notorious child murderers Lucy Letby and Beinash Batool following a four-month retrial at the Old Bailey. She also complained about being spoken to like a child and accused legal teams of trying to 'make angels look like devils and devils appear angelic'. Marten added: "They all use this disgusting tone, like they're reprimanding a small child. "I've heard them laugh and joke with others, but with me, it's always condescending. "I just shut down because no one wants to be spoken to like that. People say, 'Oh, they're just doing their job', but they're not. "They're paid to make angels look like devils and devils appear angelic." The mum barely mentioned her daughter, who prosecutors believe died from hypothermia or suffocation in a flimsy tent after the couple went on the run. Marten and Gordon sparked a nationwide manhunt in early 2023 after fleeing with their newborn, desperate to avoid the baby being taken into care like their previous four children. She gave birth to Victoria without seeking any medical assistance in early 2022 and kept her "their little secret". The infant had hardly any clothes or "means of keeping or remaining warm". Victoria, who spent 'much of her life' in a Lidl bag for life, was tragically discovered dumped among rubbish in a shed near Brighton. A jury found the pair guilty of gross negligence manslaughter after hearing harrowing details of how they ignored warnings and lived 'off-grid'. In a police interview, Marten later said: "I had her in my jacket and I hadn't slept properly in quite a few days and erm, I fell asleep holding her sitting up and she, when I woke up, she wasn't alive." Jurors were told Marten had been warned by social workers about the risk of falling asleep with a baby lying on her and that a tent was unsuitable. Both she and Gordon lost their appeal against the child cruelty convictions and are due to be sentenced in September. This comes as... Marten was a former Tatler 'It Girl" and her family had close links to the Royals. But her life spiralled out of control after she and Gordon, 51, met by chance in a North London incense shop in 2014. The couple went off the radar from her friends and family and formed their own self-styled cult living apart from society, with Constance even posing as an Irish traveller when she attended hospital while pregnant. Constance also travelled the world and went to festivals including Burning Man and Wireless, saying: 'Dance is my oxygen.' She spent her summer holidays in 2010 working for a film production company in Cairo. One of her colleagues there described her as being 'very decent, nice and friendly' and having 'great potential'. But she added that Constance sometimes chose the 'wrong' type of man, adding: 'She was somehow gullible.' During the trial, it was revealed that Gordon was convicted of a series of sexual offences - including rape - while living in the US. Gordon, who was 14 at the time, broke into the house of a next door neighbour wearing a nylon stocking over his face and armed with a knife and hedge clippers. He demanded the woman undress and attempted to rape her before carrying out the vile offences in the April 1989 horror. The victim of his crime told the BBC she was "floored" when she found out the man who attacked her 36 years ago was on the run from police in the UK in 2023. She said: "The four-and-a-half hours I spent with him was enough to know he is evil." On May 21 the same year, Gordon broke into another home with a shovel and battered a man inside. The fiend was sentenced in the US to 40 years in prison, of which he served 22 years. In 2017, Gordon was convicted of assaulting two female police officers at a maternity unit in Wales. Jurors were not told that Gordon was also suspected of a incident of domestic violence in 2019 which left Marten with a shattered spleen. 7 7 7 Timeline of baby 'killing' - how couple evaded cops CONSTANCE Marten and Mark Gordon allegedly sparked a 54-day manhunt across the UK after vanishing with their baby Victoria. Here's how the pair's journey began... December 20, 2022 Marten and Gordon booked into a holiday cottage in Northumberland, with the rental due to end on Boxing Day. The owner told jurors he found the property in "something of a state" on December 28. December 24, 2022 The couple claim their baby daughter was born this day but this has been disputed by prosecutors. December 28, 2022 Their Suzuki broke down on the M18 motorway so a recovery driver took them to a nearby Sainsbury's. There was allegedly no sign of the baby but the back and side windows of the car had been blocked by clothing. January 4, 2023 Marten and Gordon checked into the Ibis hotel at the Lymm Services in Cheshire then later the AC Hotel in Manchester. January 5, 2023 The couple's Peugeot 206 catches fire on the M61 motorway in Greater Manchester. Police launch an urgent probe after finding placenta, burner phones and Marten's passport, jurors were told. She and Gordon are taken to a Morrisons store in Bolton by a member of the public before being seen on CCTV at the nearby Bolton Interchange station. The couple allegedly use Marten's trust for a taxi to Liverpool, then a £400 cab to Harwich in Essex. Cab driver Ali Yaryar, who picked the couple up from Liverpool, told the court: "I think the baby had no clothes". January 6, 2023 The couple arrive in Harwich and check into a Premier Inn at around 3am. They later move to the Fryatt Hotel, where they paid in cash, it was said. January 7, 2023 Marten and Gordon travel by taxi to Colchester then to East Ham in London. The couple allegedly buy a buggy from Argos then grab another cab to Whitechapel. They ate in a Brick Lane restaurant then dump the new buggy - choosing instead to keep Victoria in a Lidl bag, jurors heard. January 8, 2023 The couple spend £475 on a taxi from Hornsey to Newhaven in East Sussex and walk to the South Downs National Park. January 9, 2023 Both Marten and Gordon claim baby Victoria died on this day - making her 16 days old, the court was told. It is said there is no way of knowing this for sure. January 12, 2023 Marten is captured buying snacks and petrol with cash but there was no sign of the baby. Prosecutors say she bought the fuel to cremate the baby but changed her mind. January 16, 2023 Marten and Gordon are seen setting up a tent in Stanmer Park Nature Reserve in the South Downs despite the cold weather. February 16/17, 2023 The couple are spotted near Hollingbury Golf Course in rural Sussex allegedly pushing a buggy with no baby. Their tent is later seen in Coldean Lane in Brighton A driver sees the pair walking towards Stanmer Park with something under Marten's puffer jacket, the court heard. February 19, 2023 Gordon and Marten are allegedly seen in their tent in the park with a very young baby with a "wobbly" head. Jurors told the baby had no socks, blanket or hat on. February 27, 2023 The couple are arrested in Hollingbury Place in Brighton but do not reveal Victoria's location at first, it is said. March 1, 2023 Tragic Victoria is found dead in a Lidl bag covered in rubbish inside a disused shed "like refuse", the court is told.
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Yahoo
A runaway British aristocrat and convicted rapist were found guilty over their baby's death. Here's how their story unfolded
When they wanted, Constance Marten and Mark Gordon could be warm and caring parents. A family judge described interactions with their children as 'excellent,' with the two able to act in a 'loving and attentive manner.' But a high-profile court case that stunned even seasoned legal figures painted a different picture, of a couple so fixated on each other and suspicious of outside authority they failed to care for their own child. This week, Marten and Gordon were found guilty of manslaughter after their newborn daughter, Victoria, was found dead in a grocery bag inside a disused shed. They will be sentenced later this year. Police discovered Victoria's body on March 1, 2023 – two days after her parents were arrested following a 53-day search. Marten and Gordon had travelled across the UK with their newborn, hopping from city to city and ultimately sleeping in a tent despite frigid winter conditions, in an attempt to evade authorities. They believed that Victoria would be taken from them after their previous four children were taken into foster care, London's Metropolitan Police said in a statement released after their conviction. The nationwide search and ensuing court cases gripped Britain, not least because of Marten's privileged background and Gordon's violent criminal past. Putting their relationship first Marten, 38, grew up in a wealthy, aristocratic family with ties to the royal family. She was privately educated, travelled across Africa, and had worked as a journalist for Al Jazeera. She met Gordon, whom she called her 'soulmate,' at an incense shop in north London in 2014, according to Britain's PA Media. Prosecutors said they were in a relationship from 2016. Gordon, who at 51 is 13 years her senior, has a 'significant criminal history, involving serious sexual violence' which he perpetrated as a teenager, court documents show. A case detail from a Florida court shows that he was convicted of armed sexual battery, armed kidnapping, kidnapping, and burglary with a deadly weapon in 1989. He served 22 years in jail and was released in 2010, PA reported. The couple's relationship involved domestic violence, according to the documents from a London family court judge, written before Victoria's body was found. In 2019, when Marten was pregnant with the couple's third child, Gordon either pushed or caused her to fall out of a window during an argument, causing 'serious injuries,' the family court documents say. Gordon did not seek any medical assistance, 'putting her life and that of the unborn child at risk,' they add. The pair seemingly had an aversion to authority, repeatedly failing to engage with child protection officials despite concerns being voiced about their children's wellbeing. In January 2022, a judge found that the couple put their relationship 'before all other considerations,' including their children's health, and ordered that their four children were placed in the custody of authorities. In late December 2022, when Marten was heavily pregnant with their fifth child, they went on the run. Burned-out car sparks hunt In early January 2023, police in northern England launched a nationwide search for Gordon and Marten after finding a placenta in a burned-out car on a highway. The car, which was 'completely gutted,' still had remnants of diapers and blankets inside, according to Greater Manchester Police. 'Evidence suggests that Constance has very recently given birth and neither her (nor) the baby have been assessed by medical professionals,' Greater Manchester Police said at the time. In the following days, the couple travelled across the country, making several stops before ending up in Newhaven, a seaside town overlooking the English Channel. The couple mostly travelled by taxi, paying hundreds of pounds per journey. Marten had roughly £19,000 (around $25,000) in her bank account when she was arrested, PA said. CCTV footage from a hotel in Harwich, Essex, where the pair stayed on January 6, showed a baby underneath Marten's coat, the Metropolitan Police said. The next day, the couple were spotted buying a stroller, but it was too big for the newborn Victoria. They dumped the stroller in an alleyway and transferred the baby to a grocery bag, according to police. The public reported seeing the couple a number of times over the following weeks. On January 16, they were seen living in a tent on a nature reserve near Brighton. Temperatures in that area often fell below freezing at night. They lived in the tent for more than a month, police said. The pair had previously been warned by social workers that it was 'wholly unsuitable' for a baby to live in a tent, according to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) – advice given in relation to their other children who were taken into authorities' care. On February 27, 2023, the couple was arrested after being spotted in a store in Brighton. Baby Victoria was nowhere to be found. Roadside interviews shared by the Metropolitan Police show officers asking the baby's parents where she was. Marten did not answer the question, asking instead why she was being arrested. Gordon repeatedly asked for the police for food. Two days later, Victoria's decomposing body was found in a shed in a community garden where they had been staying. Pathologists were not able to confirm how she died. Marten eventually told police that her baby had died while the couple was sleeping, according to London's Metropolitan Police. The CPS said it was not known exactly when Victoria was born or died, but it was believed she had been alive for some weeks and forced to endure the cold while living outdoors. CCTV footage showed her inadequately dressed, with no hat, socks or even a blanket. 'Their reckless actions were driven by a selfish desire to keep their baby no matter the cost – resulting in her tragic death,' Samantha Yelland, senior prosecutor for CPS London, said of Marten and Gordon. They ditched their cell phones and avoided using bank cards even to the point of being starving as they sought to dodge police, she added. Couple's 'antics' disrupt court case Court reporting from the couple's trial at London's Old Bailey describes the proceedings as chaotic. The defendants repeatedly caused disruption in the courtroom, and often failed to show up to court. At one point, PA said, Marten revealed information about Gordon's rape conviction to the jury – even though this was deliberately not disclosed in court to ensure a fair trial. Marten was represented by a total of 14 barristers across two trials – one that took place in 2024, and a retrial that ended on Monday, PA reported. Gordon also sought the counsel of five lawyers across both trials, the agency said, but towards the end of the retrial, ended up representing himself. The retrial was requested by the CPS after the jury in 2024 could not reach a verdict on whether the pair were guilty of manslaughter, although they were convicted of charges including child cruelty. They lost an appeal against those convictions. On Monday, the couple were unanimously found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter. UK media outlets reported that Gordon said from the dock that he would appeal. According to PA, Judge Mark Lucraft said at one point that he had 'never' before encountered the 'sort of attitude' shown towards him by Gordon and Marten, adding that two teenagers who had been in court earlier that day were 'rather better behaved - and they pleaded guilty to murder.' Jaswant Narwal, Chief Crown Prosecutor at CPS London, called the trials 'challenging,' saying in a statement after their conviction that 'Marten and Gordon have shown little remorse for their actions, using different antics to frustrate and delay court proceedings.' Det. Insp. Dave Sinclair, who first responded to the calls about the burned-out car that sparked the search for Victoria, called her death 'completely avoidable' and solely down to her parents' actions. 'I just feel really sad. This is such a tragic waste of life,' he said. 'There was ample opportunity for them to have sought help, to have addressed the welfare concerns for the baby, to have come forward to the authorities and to have got that help. And potentially there may have been a different outcome.'
CNN
19-07-2025
- CNN
A runaway British aristocrat and convicted rapist were found guilty over their baby's death. Here's how their story unfolded
When they wanted, Constance Marten and Mark Gordon could be warm and caring parents. A family judge described interactions with their children as 'excellent,' with the two able to act in a 'loving and attentive manner.' But a high-profile court case that stunned even seasoned legal figures painted a different picture, of a couple so fixated on each other and suspicious of outside authority they failed to care for their own child. This week, Marten and Gordon were found guilty of manslaughter after their newborn daughter, Victoria, was found dead in a grocery bag inside a disused shed. They will be sentenced later this year. Police discovered Victoria's body on March 1, 2023 – two days after her parents were arrested following a 53-day search. Marten and Gordon had travelled across the UK with their newborn, hopping from city to city and ultimately sleeping in a tent despite frigid winter conditions, in an attempt to evade authorities. They believed that Victoria would be taken from them after their previous four children were taken into foster care, London's Metropolitan Police said in a statement released after their conviction. The nationwide search and ensuing court cases gripped Britain, not least because of Marten's privileged background and Gordon's violent criminal past. Marten, 38, grew up in a wealthy, aristocratic family with ties to the royal family. She was privately educated, travelled across Africa, and had worked as a journalist for Al Jazeera. She met Gordon, whom she called her 'soulmate,' at an incense shop in north London in 2014, according to Britain's PA Media. Prosecutors said they were in a relationship from 2016. Gordon, who at 51 is 13 years her senior, has a 'significant criminal history, involving serious sexual violence' which he perpetrated as a teenager, court documents show. A case detail from a Florida court shows that he was convicted of armed sexual battery, armed kidnapping, kidnapping, and burglary with a deadly weapon in 1989. He served 22 years in jail and was released in 2010, PA reported. The couple's relationship involved domestic violence, according to the documents from a London family court judge, written before Victoria's body was found. In 2019, when Marten was pregnant with the couple's third child, Gordon either pushed or caused her to fall out of a window during an argument, causing 'serious injuries,' the family court documents say. Gordon did not seek any medical assistance, 'putting her life and that of the unborn child at risk,' they add. The pair seemingly had an aversion to authority, repeatedly failing to engage with child protection officials despite concerns being voiced about their children's wellbeing. In January 2022, a judge found that the couple put their relationship 'before all other considerations,' including their children's health, and ordered that their four children were placed in the custody of authorities. In late December 2022, when Marten was heavily pregnant with their fifth child, they went on the run. In early January 2023, police in northern England launched a nationwide search for Gordon and Marten after finding a placenta in a burned-out car on a highway. The car, which was 'completely gutted,' still had remnants of diapers and blankets inside, according to Greater Manchester Police. 'Evidence suggests that Constance has very recently given birth and neither her (nor) the baby have been assessed by medical professionals,' Greater Manchester Police said at the time. In the following days, the couple travelled across the country, making several stops before ending up in Newhaven, a seaside town overlooking the English Channel. The couple mostly travelled by taxi, paying hundreds of pounds per journey. Marten had roughly £19,000 (around $25,000) in her bank account when she was arrested, PA said. CCTV footage from a hotel in Harwich, Essex, where the pair stayed on January 6, showed a baby underneath Marten's coat, the Metropolitan Police said. The next day, the couple were spotted buying a stroller, but it was too big for the newborn Victoria. They dumped the stroller in an alleyway and transferred the baby to a grocery bag, according to police. The public reported seeing the couple a number of times over the following weeks. On January 16, they were seen living in a tent on a nature reserve near Brighton. Temperatures in that area often fell below freezing at night. They lived in the tent for more than a month, police said. The pair had previously been warned by social workers that it was 'wholly unsuitable' for a baby to live in a tent, according to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) – advice given in relation to their other children who were taken into authorities' care. On February 27, 2023, the couple was arrested after being spotted in a store in Brighton. Baby Victoria was nowhere to be found. Roadside interviews shared by the Metropolitan Police show officers asking the baby's parents where she was. Marten did not answer the question, asking instead why she was being arrested. Gordon repeatedly asked for the police for food. Two days later, Victoria's decomposing body was found in a shed in a community garden where they had been staying. Pathologists were not able to confirm how she died. Marten eventually told police that her baby had died while the couple was sleeping, according to London's Metropolitan Police. The CPS said it was not known exactly when Victoria was born or died, but it was believed she had been alive for some weeks and forced to endure the cold while living outdoors. CCTV footage showed her inadequately dressed, with no hat, socks or even a blanket. 'Their reckless actions were driven by a selfish desire to keep their baby no matter the cost – resulting in her tragic death,' Samantha Yelland, senior prosecutor for CPS London, said of Marten and Gordon. They ditched their cell phones and avoided using bank cards even to the point of being starving as they sought to dodge police, she added. Court reporting from the couple's trial at London's Old Bailey describes the proceedings as chaotic. The defendants repeatedly caused disruption in the courtroom, and often failed to show up to court. At one point, PA said, Marten revealed information about Gordon's rape conviction to the jury – even though this was deliberately not disclosed in court to ensure a fair trial. Marten was represented by a total of 14 barristers across two trials – one that took place in 2024, and a retrial that ended on Monday, PA reported. Gordon also sought the counsel of five lawyers across both trials, the agency said, but towards the end of the retrial, ended up representing himself. The retrial was requested by the CPS after the jury in 2024 could not reach a verdict on whether the pair were guilty of manslaughter, although they were convicted of charges including child cruelty. They lost an appeal against those convictions. On Monday, the couple were unanimously found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter. UK media outlets reported that Gordon said from the dock that he would appeal. According to PA, Judge Mark Lucraft said at one point that he had 'never' before encountered the 'sort of attitude' shown towards him by Gordon and Marten, adding that two teenagers who had been in court earlier that day were 'rather better behaved - and they pleaded guilty to murder.' Jaswant Narwal, Chief Crown Prosecutor at CPS London, called the trials 'challenging,' saying in a statement after their conviction that 'Marten and Gordon have shown little remorse for their actions, using different antics to frustrate and delay court proceedings.' Det. Insp. Dave Sinclair, who first responded to the calls about the burned-out car that sparked the search for Victoria, called her death 'completely avoidable' and solely down to her parents' actions. 'I just feel really sad. This is such a tragic waste of life,' he said. 'There was ample opportunity for them to have sought help, to have addressed the welfare concerns for the baby, to have come forward to the authorities and to have got that help. And potentially there may have been a different outcome.'
CNN
19-07-2025
- CNN
A runaway British aristocrat and convicted rapist were found guilty over their baby's death. Here's how their story unfolded
When they wanted, Constance Marten and Mark Gordon could be warm and caring parents. A family judge described interactions with their children as 'excellent,' with the two able to act in a 'loving and attentive manner.' But a high-profile court case that stunned even seasoned legal figures painted a different picture, of a couple so fixated on each other and suspicious of outside authority they failed to care for their own child. This week, Marten and Gordon were found guilty of manslaughter after their newborn daughter, Victoria, was found dead in a grocery bag inside a disused shed. They will be sentenced later this year. Police discovered Victoria's body on March 1, 2023 – two days after her parents were arrested following a 53-day search. Marten and Gordon had travelled across the UK with their newborn, hopping from city to city and ultimately sleeping in a tent despite frigid winter conditions, in an attempt to evade authorities. They believed that Victoria would be taken from them after their previous four children were taken into foster care, London's Metropolitan Police said in a statement released after their conviction. The nationwide search and ensuing court cases gripped Britain, not least because of Marten's privileged background and Gordon's violent criminal past. Marten, 38, grew up in a wealthy, aristocratic family with ties to the royal family. She was privately educated, travelled across Africa, and had worked as a journalist for Al Jazeera. She met Gordon, whom she called her 'soulmate,' at an incense shop in north London in 2014, according to Britain's PA Media. Prosecutors said they were in a relationship from 2016. Gordon, who at 51 is 13 years her senior, has a 'significant criminal history, involving serious sexual violence' which he perpetrated as a teenager, court documents show. A case detail from a Florida court shows that he was convicted of armed sexual battery, armed kidnapping, kidnapping, and burglary with a deadly weapon in 1989. He served 22 years in jail and was released in 2010, PA reported. The couple's relationship involved domestic violence, according to the documents from a London family court judge, written before Victoria's body was found. In 2019, when Marten was pregnant with the couple's third child, Gordon either pushed or caused her to fall out of a window during an argument, causing 'serious injuries,' the family court documents say. Gordon did not seek any medical assistance, 'putting her life and that of the unborn child at risk,' they add. The pair seemingly had an aversion to authority, repeatedly failing to engage with child protection officials despite concerns being voiced about their children's wellbeing. In January 2022, a judge found that the couple put their relationship 'before all other considerations,' including their children's health, and ordered that their four children were placed in the custody of authorities. In late December 2022, when Marten was heavily pregnant with their fifth child, they went on the run. In early January 2023, police in northern England launched a nationwide search for Gordon and Marten after finding a placenta in a burned-out car on a highway. The car, which was 'completely gutted,' still had remnants of diapers and blankets inside, according to Greater Manchester Police. 'Evidence suggests that Constance has very recently given birth and neither her (nor) the baby have been assessed by medical professionals,' Greater Manchester Police said at the time. In the following days, the couple travelled across the country, making several stops before ending up in Newhaven, a seaside town overlooking the English Channel. The couple mostly travelled by taxi, paying hundreds of pounds per journey. Marten had roughly £19,000 (around $25,000) in her bank account when she was arrested, PA said. CCTV footage from a hotel in Harwich, Essex, where the pair stayed on January 6, showed a baby underneath Marten's coat, the Metropolitan Police said. The next day, the couple were spotted buying a stroller, but it was too big for the newborn Victoria. They dumped the stroller in an alleyway and transferred the baby to a grocery bag, according to police. The public reported seeing the couple a number of times over the following weeks. On January 16, they were seen living in a tent on a nature reserve near Brighton. Temperatures in that area often fell below freezing at night. They lived in the tent for more than a month, police said. The pair had previously been warned by social workers that it was 'wholly unsuitable' for a baby to live in a tent, according to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) – advice given in relation to their other children who were taken into authorities' care. On February 27, 2023, the couple was arrested after being spotted in a store in Brighton. Baby Victoria was nowhere to be found. Roadside interviews shared by the Metropolitan Police show officers asking the baby's parents where she was. Marten did not answer the question, asking instead why she was being arrested. Gordon repeatedly asked for the police for food. Two days later, Victoria's decomposing body was found in a shed in a community garden where they had been staying. Pathologists were not able to confirm how she died. Marten eventually told police that her baby had died while the couple was sleeping, according to London's Metropolitan Police. The CPS said it was not known exactly when Victoria was born or died, but it was believed she had been alive for some weeks and forced to endure the cold while living outdoors. CCTV footage showed her inadequately dressed, with no hat, socks or even a blanket. 'Their reckless actions were driven by a selfish desire to keep their baby no matter the cost – resulting in her tragic death,' Samantha Yelland, senior prosecutor for CPS London, said of Marten and Gordon. They ditched their cell phones and avoided using bank cards even to the point of being starving as they sought to dodge police, she added. Court reporting from the couple's trial at London's Old Bailey describes the proceedings as chaotic. The defendants repeatedly caused disruption in the courtroom, and often failed to show up to court. At one point, PA said, Marten revealed information about Gordon's rape conviction to the jury – even though this was deliberately not disclosed in court to ensure a fair trial. Marten was represented by a total of 14 barristers across two trials – one that took place in 2024, and a retrial that ended on Monday, PA reported. Gordon also sought the counsel of five lawyers across both trials, the agency said, but towards the end of the retrial, ended up representing himself. The retrial was requested by the CPS after the jury in 2024 could not reach a verdict on whether the pair were guilty of manslaughter, although they were convicted of charges including child cruelty. They lost an appeal against those convictions. On Monday, the couple were unanimously found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter. UK media outlets reported that Gordon said from the dock that he would appeal. According to PA, Judge Mark Lucraft said at one point that he had 'never' before encountered the 'sort of attitude' shown towards him by Gordon and Marten, adding that two teenagers who had been in court earlier that day were 'rather better behaved - and they pleaded guilty to murder.' Jaswant Narwal, Chief Crown Prosecutor at CPS London, called the trials 'challenging,' saying in a statement after their conviction that 'Marten and Gordon have shown little remorse for their actions, using different antics to frustrate and delay court proceedings.' Det. Insp. Dave Sinclair, who first responded to the calls about the burned-out car that sparked the search for Victoria, called her death 'completely avoidable' and solely down to her parents' actions. 'I just feel really sad. This is such a tragic waste of life,' he said. 'There was ample opportunity for them to have sought help, to have addressed the welfare concerns for the baby, to have come forward to the authorities and to have got that help. And potentially there may have been a different outcome.'
