- Constance Marten and Mark Gordon are accused of killing their baby Victoria
Fugitive aristocrat Constance Marten and her boyfriend Mark Gordon were reduced to shoplifting and scavenging from bins after allegedly killing their baby, a court has heard.
Marten, 36, and Gordon, 49, are accused of killing their newborn baby Victoria by taking her on the run in January last year to prevent the child being taken away by social services.
The placenta was found in an exploded car on a Manchester motorway, sparking a huge police hunt as the couple traversed the UK trying to find a port to escape from, the Old Bailey heard.
The couple then spent nearly two months camping in a blue tent in the bitterly cold South Downs near Brighton before the baby, wearing only a onesie, allegedly froze to death.
Victoria was later found dead in a Lidl bag for life where prosecutors say she spent most of her life.
Jurors were shown CCTV footage which the prosecution say shows Marten and Gordon attempting to break into Hollingbury Golf Course in Brighton.
A woman was seen carrying the Lidl bag for life and using a branch as a walking aid while walking up to the fire exit.
Prosecutor Tom Little, KC, said: ‘They were both tampering with the door and then Marten uses the branch to attempt to break through the door.’
After failing to gain access they are seen rummaging through bins outside the golf course, taking some rubbish out and placing it in the bag for life.
Mr Little previously said the couple were so cold and hungry they were trying to break in to find shelter and scavenging for food from the bins.
The couple were arrested at the golf course on February 27.
CCTV from around 8pm showed Marten allegedly attempting to shoplift in a post office on Hollingbury Place.
Footage showed a woman entering the shop wearing a big winter coat and face mask.
Mr Little said: ‘Constance Marten enters the post office, picks up a tin of food and attempts to put it straight into the pocket of her coat, however it appears to fall straight to the floor.
‘She puts it back and immediately leaves.’
Marten is then seen on CCTV making three cash withdrawals from an ATM, before handing it to Gordon.
The couple then entered another store and bought some food in cash.
Dale Cooley saw the couple outside the store when he called the police.
In a statement, he told the court he saw a woman stood outside the convenience store who was approached by a man ‘carrying a massive stick’ with ‘one foot wrapped in a plastic bag’.
He said: ‘I immediately thought this was very strange and thought he looked very out of place.
‘I then thought the male looked familiar and remembered a thing about a missing couple in the news recently.’
He said he believed it could be the couple so searched on his phone for an article in The Brighton Argus newspaper.
He said: ‘Seeing the photo furthered my suspicion as it matched up- especially the male.’
He said he saw Gordon leave the shop with four carrier bags and hand two to Marten.
Gordon had his face covered with a black scarf or balaclava, Mr Cooley said.
‘I rang my wife and told her I believed I saw the missing couple from the news and I was not sure what to do so I decided to follow them until I was sure it was them.’
He drove after the couple before getting out of his car and walking past Marten on foot.
‘She stared at the ground – it seemed to me she was trying to keep hidden.
‘I phoned my wife again and told her it was definitely the couple from the news as their behaviour seemed strange as if they were trying to keep hidden.’
He followed the couple again in his car and then walked behind them on foot.
‘I said to them ”is this Stanmer Villas?” but both continued to face away from me and didn’t acknowledge the question.
‘I asked the question again and the male replied with a gruff tone in a northern accent ”we don’t know”.
He said he then spotted a paramedic’s car and asked them what he should do and they told him to call 999.
Mr Cooley called the police at 9.26pm and continued to follow the couple in his car.
He stood at one end of Golf Drive, leading to the golf club, while the couple walked to the other end.
‘The police arrived and I pointed the male and female out and watched as they approached,’ he said.
He said he saw ‘a lot of commotion’ and residents came out and asked what was going on.
Sergeant Robert Button said he was told about the sighting and deployed urgently to attend with a number of other officers.
The couple both smelt like homeless people, he said.
‘She had what appeared to be furniture stuffing- so you imagine the inside of a sofa, like a spongey material between each layer of clothing which appeared to act as insulation.
‘She smelt unclean, unwashed. Certain people I’ve dealt with in the past, members of the street community have a certain stale smell after a period of not washing and that was the smell coming from Marten. He said Gordon smelt very similar.
The couple met in 2016 and had four children in quick succession who were all taken into care after Marten gave birth to her first child using a fake Irish accent pretending to be a traveller, jurors have heard.
The couple deny the manslaughter of Victoria by gross negligence, concealment of the birth of a child, cruelty to a person under 16 and perverting the course of justice by disposing of the body.
Marten comes from a wealthy aristocratic family and her father was a page to Queen Elizabeth II.
Marten appeared in court today wearing a pink blouse, silver necklace and rings while Gordon wore a blue shirt and tie.
Ms Marten’s mother Virginie de Selliers and her brother Tobias Marten also attended court.
The wealthy family lived at Dorset estate Crichel House during Marten’s youth and her grandmother was a playmate of Princess Margaret and goddaughter to the Queen Mother.
Marten and Gordon deny manslaughter by gross negligence, concealment of the birth of a child, cruelty to a person under 16 and perverting the course of justice.
They also deny causing or allowing the death of a child.
The trial is set to last six weeks.
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
