30 January 2024 , 14:45
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Constance Marten's lover Mark Gordon "slid down in his seat" when police passed as he took a taxi with his girlfriend and their newborn child, a court heard today.
Marten, 36, and Gordon, 49, are accused of killing Victoria by taking her on the run in January last year to prevent her being taken away by social services. The baby's 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 the Lidl bag for life in which she spent most of her life.
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.
A sketch of the defendants in court (PA)Marten comes from a wealthy aristocratic family and her father was a page to Queen Elizabeth II. In a statement read to the court, Valentina Burley said she saw the couple when she was jogging in Harwich Park on 7 January 2023.
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She said: "I didn't think they were waiting for the ferry because of the time," she said. "As I was approaching I could hear a baby crying loudly. I wondered why they were outside in the cold with a baby and thought if they were waiting for a train they would wait inside."
Colette Franklin, who took the couple in a taxi from Harwich to Colchester said they had asked to go to London but she told them she could not take them that far. She said: "I told them I would take them to Colchester and they could get a train from there. But the female asked to be dropped off in the town centre instead.
"I noticed at one point when a police car was coming towards us on the road the male slid down in his seat. At first, I thought this was strange but as he stayed in this position after the police car passed through so I thought he must have been more comfortable sitting that way."
She said that 20 minutes later she got a call from the police asking her about the couple she had dropped off. The driver was told to Google the name Mark Gordon and instantly recognised him and Marten as the pair she had dropped off.
Marten comes from a wealthy aristocratic family (Getty Images)
Marten's mother Virginie de Selliers (PA)Taxi driver Razvan Palcu was then approached by Marten in Colchester and asked if he would take her to East Ham. Marten paid over £100 upfront. Mr Palcu said: "The female told me to pull over as we needed to pick her husband up from the Castle Pub.
"A male came and got inside. He unzipped his jacket, took a baby out and handed it to the female." Nicola Hutton, was on a bus in East Ham when she saw Marten walking down the High Street around midday. She said Marten was alone loitering looking into a window of a shop selling "red skimpy dresses".
She stated: "I saw her looking into the shop window for about a minute before she moved on. She was slowly ambling, not in a hurry to get anywhere and was moving around. She would take steps forward here and there and her body language led me to believe she didn't have any purpose at that moment in time.
"Based on the way she was dressed I thought she might be homeless. She looked very scruffy and was looking at dresses in the shop window that would look quite unusual for someone homeless. I remember thinking 'Oh, there are some odd people in London'. I'm not the sort of person who would phone the police about something like this unless I'm sure about it."
Marten and Gordon were then seen on CCTV going into a German Donner Kebab before Gordon left and went to purchase a buggy from Argos. They were then seen going into Primark. CCTV showed Marten in a Burgundy coat with a red scarf over her head and a Covid facemask while Gordon held the Lidl bag for life.
The baby was wrapped underneath Marten's coat. Gordon appeared in court today wearing a light blue shirt and tie while Marten did not appear. Judge Mark Lucraft, KC, the Recorder of London, told the jury: 'We don't have Ms Marten on the link, a link is available, she may join us.'
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Marten's mother Virginie de Selliers is in court. The wealthy family lived at the 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.