6 hours ago
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Helena Wilkinson
BBC news
Reporting fromOld Bailey
A couple who went on the run with their newborn daughter have been found guilty of her manslaughter by gross negligence.
Constance Marten, 38, and Mark Gordon, 51, were convicted on Monday following a lengthy and chaotic retrial at the Old Bailey, which the judge accused them of trying to "sabotage" and "derail".
It comes more than two years after the decomposed body of their baby, Victoria, had been discovered in a shopping bag in Brighton.
An earlier trial at the same court found them guilty of concealing the birth of a child, perverting the course of justice by not reporting her death, and of child cruelty - the latter of which could not be reported until now.
Now the conviction for manslaughter by gross negligence shows the jury decided that the couple's behaviour had been exceptionally bad and fell below the standard of reasonably competent parents.
The prosecution had argued during their retrial that Marten and Gordon had made a conscious decision to not keep Victoria safe, and that it was clear their actions had been deliberate.
Central to the prosecution's case was that Victoria had died from hypothermia or by being smothered while co-sleeping in a small, thin tent in cold, damp and windy conditions in January 2023.
Pathologists are still not sure exactly how she died.
It is thought that the couple went on the run to avoid the authorities and keep Victoria, their fifth child together, with their four other children having being been previously taken into care.
During the trial, the jurors had been told of Marten's privileged upbringing in a wealthy family. By contrast, they learned that Gordon had been convicted of rape in Florida in 1989 when he was aged 14.
For legal reasons, this conviction - for which he was sentenced to 40 years in prison and deported back to the UK after serving 20 years - was not made known during the first trial, but was disclosed the second time around.
Marten and Gordon both refused to stand as the jury delivered its unanimous verdict on Monday. Marten shook her head and sighed, while Gordon sat with his eyes closed and his head resting back on the wall.
Gordon also told the judge following the verdicts that he planned to "win on appeal" and described it as an "unfair trial".
Marten and Gordon's case was highly unusual, from their disruptive and unpredictable behaviour to the endless delays caused by them not turning up to court.
They disrespected the judge, were rude to dock officers and would often talk during proceedings. Barristers were also sacked while others withdrew; since their first trial, Marten had gone through 14.
On one occasion, Judge Mark Lucraft KC said about Marten that he has "never had that sort of attitude" shown to him by anyone in his 13 years as a full-time judge.
Speaking after the conclusion of the trial, chief prosecutor Jaswant Narwal said the defendants had shown "little remorse for their actions" and had used "different antics to frustrate and delay court proceedings".
"I hope these convictions provide a sense of justice and comfort to all those affected by this tragic case."
Samantha Yellend, London's senior crown prosecutor, said it was "shocking" that the couple would expose their child to "such obvious risks" and that their "reckless actions were driven by a selfish desire to keep their baby no matter the cost".
The couple became the subjects of a 53-day police manhunt in 2023 when officers found evidence of a recent birth in a burnt-out car near Bolton.
They slept outside and took steps to avoid detection, including covering their faces when in public.
They were found on 27 February 2023 and Victoria was discovered dead two days later in an allotment shed in the Hollingbury area of Brighton.
She had died in a tent in the South Downs in January that year.
Det Supt Lewis Basford, who led the search for them, said Victoria's death was "completely avoidable" and that the couple had many opportunities to "do the right thing and... ask for help".
"We have waited more than two years to secure justice for baby Victoria and I am pleased we have now been able to get that for her - despite her parents trying to disrupt and derail not one, but two trials," he said.
He added that as a father himself, he found it "hard to comprehend how, instead of providing the warmth and care their child needed" Marten and Gordon "chose to live outside during freezing conditions to avoid the authorities".
The couple are expected to be sentenced in September.
