Runaway aristocrat Constance Marten and her partner Mark Gordon are facing years in prison after being found guilty of the manslaughter of their newborn baby girl.
The couple caused a national storm when they went on the run from authorities in December 2022 when Marten was heavily pregnant, hoping to conceal the existence of their new daughter Victoria.
Marten, who grew up in the lap of luxury, and Gordon, a violent convicted rapist, spent thousands of pounds travelling around England in a warped bid to avoid capture, and ended up sleeping in a flimsy festival-style tent on the freezing cold South Downs.
The huge nationwide manhunt, which attracted a global audience, culminated in Marten and Gordon’s arrest and the grim discovery of baby Victoria’s dead body, in a Lidl bag for life, covered in rubbish and abandoned in a disused shed.
At the Old Bailey on Monday, Marten, 37, and Gordon, 50, were both found guilty by a jury of manslaughter.
Judge Mark Lucraft KC is set to sentence them both on September 15.
In their first trial last year, a different jury convicted the couple concealing a birth, child cruelty, and perverting the course of justice.
They now face length jail terms when sentenced by Recorder of London Judge Mark Lucraft KC, at the conclusion of mammoth legal proceedings spanning nearly two-and-a-half years.
Marten sunk into her chair when she was first found guilty, before holding hands with Gordon in the dock.
Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford, from the Met Police, said: “Today, the justice we have long fought for has been finally been served for baby Victoria.
“The selfish actions of Mark Gordon and Constance Marten resulted in the death of a newborn baby who should have had the rest of her life ahead of her.”
Courts Correspondent Tristan Kirk outlines the prosecution case during the trial in the video below.
Marten hails from a family steeped in British aristocratic history with ties to the Royal Family, and grew up in the grand surroundings of Crichel House in Dorset.
But she became estranged from her family after meeting and marrying West Midlands-born Gordon, a man with a shocking past as a convicted sex offender.
When he was just 14-years-old, Gordon broke into the home of a neighbour in Florida, US, and raped her while armed with a knife and hedge clippers, in an ordeal which lasted more than four hours.
Less than a month later, he broke into a family home and beat a man over the head with a shovel. He was punished with 22 years in an American prison.
Marten met Gordon in 2016 and they had four children together, but all were taken from them amid bitter fighting in the Family Courts and a growing wedge between Marten and her family.
In December 2022, they went on the run, knowing Marten was about to give birth to her fifth child and fearing she too would be taken into care.
Police revealed the couple’s disappearance in January 2023, after their car had caught fire and been abandoned on the side of the M61.
Inside the vehicle were discarded possession and a placenta, revealing for the first time the existence of a baby. Marten and Gordon were caught on CCTV trying to blend into crowds in east London, and ultimately they headed to the South Downs in the freezing winter to camp, hoping to continue evading the authorities.
It is not known exactly when baby Victoria died, but her body was ultimately found in late February in a shed near Brighton, after Marten and Gordon had been arrested and refused to reveal where their daughter was.
Prosecutors at trial said the couple had exposed baby Victoria to dangerous condition, warped by the idea that everyone was out to get them and insistent that their ideas of parenting should prevail.
Ultimately, they neglected and killed their daughter when camping in freezing conditions, with little access to clothing and limited food.
Marten told the court Victoria died in her arms within a day or two of starting camping, while insisting her daughter had been properly cared for.
The trial also heard evidence that the couple had been warned about co-sleeping with a baby, but had ignored that advice.
Marten and Gordon, both of no fixed address, have been held in custody since their capture in March 2023.
They now face years in prison after the guilty verdicts.
Samantha Yelland, Crown Prosecution Service London Senior Crown Prosecutor, said: “It is shocking that parents could subject their newborn baby to such obvious risks and today a jury has convicted Constance Marten and Mark Gordon for their crimes – after the prosecution brought fresh evidence to prove their guilt.
“Their reckless actions were driven by a selfish desire to keep their baby no matter the cost – resulting in her tragic death.
“These defendants did everything they could to evade the authorities – from avoiding the use of their bank cards to the point that they were starving, ditching their phones to avoid being traced and travelling hundreds of miles daily from place to place to dodge the police.
“The prosecution case included CCTV evidence, witness testimony of the couples’ whereabouts together with a combination of pathological and medical evidence which showed the extent of their neglect.”
