A woman from an aristocratic family and her partner were sentenced on Monday for the manslaughter of their newborn daughter, with the court handing both of them 14-year prison terms.
Judge Mark Lucraft told Marten, 38, and Gordon, 51, that the way they treated their baby, Victoria, had been “neglect of the gravest and most serious type.”
Constance Marten and Mark Gordon caused the death of their baby after Marten secretly gave birth and the couple took her to live in a tent during freezing winter temperatures.
Lucraft told the pair that “neither of you gave much, if any, thought to the care or welfare of your baby — your focus was on yourselves,” adding that neither of them showed “genuine expression of remorse.”
Their four other children had been taken into care following concerns for their well-being. By going into hiding, the couple hoped to prevent social services from taking their daughter away.
Living in a tent during winter
Marten — whose father, Napier Marten, was a former page to — and her partner Gordon, a convicted sex offender, first came to public attention in January 2023, after their burnt-out car was found with a placenta wrapped in a towel inside.
The couple had gone on a run in late December 2022 when Marten was heavily pregnant with their fifth child, Victoria, to avoid contact with authorities.
Marten and Gordon evaded the police for several weeks, during which they spent time living in a tent. They were eventually found by police in Brighton on England’s south coast.
Their daughter’s body was located days later in a shopping bag in a disused shed.
Marten and Gordon were convicted of perverting the course of justice, child cruelty, and concealing the birth of a child at their first trial in 2024.
In July, they were found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence at their retrial.
Edited by: Darko Janjevic
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