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An aristocrat has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for killing her newborn baby and dumping her remains in a shed.
Constance Marten, 38, and Mark Gordon, 51, went on the run after their daughter Victoria was born in late 2022.
They were hiding from the authorities over fears she would be taken into care, as their four other children had been before.
The defendants went off-grid and made their way across England after their car caught fire on the M61 near Bolton, Greater Manchester, on January 5, 2023.
Eventually they made it to the South Downs and slept in a tent where baby Victoria died days later.
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Marten and Gordon were arrested in Brighton after seven weeks on the run. Police found baby Victoria’s body inside a Lidl bag amongst other rubbish in a disused shed days later.
A jury in their retrial found Marten and Gordon unanimously guilty of gross negligence manslaughter in July.
In their first trial last year, the defendants were convicted of perverting the course of justice, concealing the birth of a child and child cruelty.
The defendants have now been sentenced for all of those crimes at the Old Bailey.
Marten was sentenced to 14 years in prison, with Gordon sentenced to an 18-year extended sentence, for gross negligence manslaughter.
Gordon will spend at least 14 years in custody with a further four years on extended licence.
Marten will not be released until she has spent at least two thirds of her sentence in custody.
The defendants were both sentenced to 18 months for concealing a birth, 18 months for child neglect, and five years for perverting the course of justice, to be served concurrently – at the same time- as their manslaughter sentences.
Seven jurors from both trials returned to the court to watch the sentencing.
Judge Mark Lucraft told Marten and Gordon off for passing notes to each other – a continuation of months of delays, disruption and setbacks from both defendants during both trials.
Before leaving court for lunch Marten had an altercation with the dock officer after she tried to pass Gordon another note and the officer took it from her.
‘Don’t snatch it off me, are you alright?’ she said angrily to the officer.
She tried to pass another note to him when she returned from lunch and a dock officer snatched it again leading to shouts from the defendants.
During the sentencing hearing, Philippa McAtasney KC, defending Gordon, argued the judge should decide that Victoria did not die of hypothermia, instead that the infant died because Marten fell asleep on her.
She said Gordon accepted making ‘poor decisions’ after going on the run with Marten and Victoria, adding that their four other children being taken from them ’caused a great deal of upset and anxiety and it was traumatic’.
Tom Godfrey KC, defending Marten, also suggested the judge should ‘pause’ before determining Victoria’s cause of death, adding: ‘My Lord cannot conclude to that criminal standard that Victoria died of hypothermia.’
But Judge Lucraft decided to sentence the couple on the basis that Victoria died from hypothermia.
He said: ‘It is clear throughout the period neither of you gave much or any thought for the care or love for your baby.’
Marten handed a final note to Gordon before she was led out of the dock. The defendants tried to say goodbye but were interrupted.
What happened to baby Victoria?
When Marten became pregnant for a fifth time, she kept it a secret from her family and the authorities.
She claims she gave birth to Victoria in a hired holiday cottage on Christmas Eve 2022.
But a major manhunt for the couple and their newborn baby was launched after their car caught fire on the motorway and police found a placenta inside.
During the search, Marten and Gordon were spotted on CCTV on multiple occasions, but only glimpses of baby Victoria were seen.
The infant was seen wearing a babygrow with a teddy bear motif – the same babygrow later found with her body inside the Lidl bag.
Victoria was carried under Marten’s jacket or in a Lidl bag without adequate clothing, warmth, or shelter.
Mark Gordon's violent history in the US and UK
Gordon moved from Birmingham to the US with his mother at the age of 12.
But aged 14, in 1989, he held a woman against her will in Florida for more than four hours, raping her while armed with a knife and hedge clippers.
A month later he went into another home and carried out another offence including aggravated battery.
Gordon was sentenced to 40 years in prison for both offences, but was released after 22 years.
In 2017, Gordon was convicted of assaulting two female police officers at a maternity unit in Wales, where Marten gave birth to their first child under a fake identity.
Gordon was also suspected of a incident of domestic violence in 2019 which left Marten with a shattered spleen.
He refused to allow paramedics into their London flat to treat her after she fell out of a window when she was 14 weeks pregnant.
She spent eight days in hospital, then put her life and that of her unborn child at risk by attempting to discharge herself, with Gordon’s support, it was alleged.
After this, the family court decided the couple’s other children should be taken into care.
Jurors were not told about Gordon’s violent past during their first trial, and the details were only partially revealed during the second trial.
Marten had accidentally blurted out Gordon’s rape conviction while giving evidence, but jurors in the retrial still appeared shaken when told the full extent of his criminal history.
Her remains were too decomposed to establish the cause of death, but the prosecution said the infant had either died from hypothermia in the cold and damp conditions, or was smothered.
Marten and Gordon claimed their daughter’s death was a tragic accident after Marten fell asleep on her.
But 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.
After Victoria died, the defendants were caught on CCTV scavenging in bins for food even though Marten had received thousands of pounds from a trust fund and had £19,000 in the bank.
Both defendants gave evidence in their retrial but each cut short their testimony before they could be cross-examined by the prosecution.
Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspector Joanna Yorke said after the verdict was handed down: ‘The selfish actions of Mark Gordon and Constance Marten resulted in the death of an innocent newborn baby who would have recently had her second birthday and should have had the rest of her life ahead of her.
‘This was an incredibly challenging investigation for the hundreds of officers across the UK who were involved in the search.
‘Our main focus throughout the search was finding Victoria alive and we were devastated by the outcome.
‘We know today’s sentencing won’t bring Victoria back, but I am pleased our investigation has resulted in the couple who caused her death finally being brought to justice.’
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