‘Callous’ UK aristocrat and boyfriend went on run to keep newborn — then left her to die in Lidl shopping bag, trial told
A British aristocrat and her boyfriend went on the run with their newborn to stop her being taken into care — then left her to die in freezing conditions by leaving her in a Lidl shopping bag, their trial was told Thursday.
Constance Marten, 36, and Mark Gordon, 49, sparked a national manhunt when their car was found abandoned and on fire in the Manchester area on Jan. 5, 2023, the BBC said.
The couple – whose four older children had already been taken into care – allegedly went on the run to avoid having their new baby, Victoria, taken as well, prosecutor Tom Little told the Old Bailey at the trial opening Thursday.
Marten – whose grandmother was a goddaughter of the late Queen Mother, according to The Sun – was arrested with her boyfriend on Feb. 27 in Brighton, around 200 miles from where their torched car has been found.
Less than two days later, baby Victoria’s remains were discovered in a garbage-covered shopping bag, “as if she was refuse,” the court was told, according to the BBC.
During their 55 days at large, the couple camped outdoors and subjected their baby to “freezing and obviously dangerous conditions” while “essentially off the grid,” the prosecutor said.
They even toted Victoria in a reusable “Lidl ‘bag for life’ where it would appear it spent much of its life before it died,” Little added of the baby.
“It would have been plain to the defendants… this was an utterly inappropriate way to care for any child… and remember at all times in this case the time of year and the weather conditions,” he continued.
“It was this grossly negligent and obviously dangerous conduct that caused the death of their baby daughter,” Little insisted.
“A young baby girl who would still be alive if it was not for the reckless, utterly selfish, callous, cruel, arrogant and ultimately grossly negligent conduct of these two defendants — who were the parents of that young baby girl,” he lamented.
Though officials do not know exactly when Victoria was born, they estimate that Marten gave birth around Dec. 28, 2022, the court heard.
The couple did not seek any medical attention before, during, or after the delivery.
The placenta was even found wrapped in a towel inside their burning car, Little said.
“Rather than act in the obvious best interests of a vulnerable baby and one that they should have cared for and looked after, they decided instead that they knew best,” he told the court.
Both Marten and Gordon are charged with manslaughter by gross negligence, as well as perverting the course of justice by concealing a body, concealing the birth of a child, child cruelty and allowing the death of a child, the Standard reported.
They have both denied all the charges.
Marten was not present at the opening of the trial on Thursday, but Gordon was sitting in the dock, the BBC noted.
