Constance Marten and Mark Gordon retrial begins | Global News Avenue

The jury heard that today’s young baby girl is still alive today if it is not suitable for the parents’ “responsive and ultimately serious negligent behavior”.

Constance Marten, 37, and Mark Gordon, 50, denied manslaughter for serious negligence, causing or allowing the child to die.

They are facing a retrial at Old Bailey. The couple’s baby was found dead in 2023 from garbage shopping bags.

Prosecutor Tom Little KC’s opening case said Mr Gordon and Ms. Martin said: “Their relationship and perception of life before a little baby girl’s life”.

“Their desire to keep the baby girl ruthlessly leads to the death of that baby,” he said.

In the last trial, Ms. Martin and Mr. Gordon were sentenced to cover up the birth of the child and distort the course of justice.

The jury has been in a relationship since 2016 and the jury heard four other children in care.

Mr Little told jurors that the couple was born “secretly.”

The barrister said they then decided in mid-winter that “in obviously dangerous weather conditions, they will deprive the baby of what they need – warmth, shelter, protection and food, and ultimately safe, and ultimately safe”.

Mr Little said the couple did not seek any medical assistance for the baby before, after birth or after birth, and sometimes brought the baby to a reusable supermarket bag.

Prosecutors said when the authorities’ hunting intensified, “their despair increased, and the risks and danger to babies increased.”

Ms. Marten appeared in the dock on the first day of the retrial. Mr. Gordon was not in court.

Judge Mark Lucraft KC told the jury that Mr Gordon would join their video link, adding: “The fact that he is not here doesn’t mean anything to you”.

The jury heard that at the end of 2022, the couple moved at various locations in South Yorkshire, Bolton, Essex, London and England’s south coast, living on a variety of properties, including a resort cottage in Northumberland, a hotel in Cheshire, and another hotel in Manchester.

The court also learned that the car the defendants used collapsed, prompting them to switch to a new car, and later caught fire on the M61 between the third and fourth in Greater Manchester.

“They did not stay on the scene with towering hell vehicles,” Mr Little said.

Police found many “burner” phones in the car, Ms. Martin’s passport, placenta wrapped in towels and a large number of baby items including newborn clothing, indicating that the baby was born by that time.

After abandoning the burning vehicle, the couple walked about 200m along the wooded area next to the highway and upgraded by a public member to a Morrison supermarket near the Bolton Interchange, where they were captured on CCTV footage displayed on the jury.

The couple first attracted public attention in January 2023, when police launched a very public pursuit after finding evidence of recent births in a burnt car near Bolton.

The couple was eventually found in Brighton on February 27, but there was no sign of a baby.

Two days later, the newborn (they call Victoria) was found dead in a distribution bag in the Hollingbury area of ​​Brighton.

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