Aristocrat Constance Marten has launched a bid to overturn her conviction for killing her newborn daughter while on the run from police.
Baby Victoria perished in a “thin and flimsy” tent after Marten and her partner Mark Gordon, a convicted rapist, took her off-grid to stop the infant from being taken into care.
The parents are facing years in jail after they were both convicted of gross negligence manslaughter in a retrial this summer.
In a separate trial last year, the couple were also found guilty of concealing their daughter’s birth, child cruelty and perverting the course of justice by hiding her body in a rubbish-filled shopping bag. An appeal bid following their first trial was previously rejected.
However Marten, 38, has now lodged a fresh application at the Court of Appeal seeking permission to appeal her manslaughter conviction, according to court officials.
Over the course of the two drawn-out trials, it emerged the couple had carefully concealed Marten’s pregnancy with Victoria – their fifth child – before going on the run to stop her from being taken into care.
Their first four children had been removed by a family court – a decision which the parents claimed was a miscarriage of justice driven by a “corrupt” social services system.
She gave birth in secret in a holiday cottage before they frantically travelled the country with the baby hidden inside Marten’s coat – at first by road and later in taxis paid for with cash from her trust fund – after their car caught fire on the M61.
They decided to settle “off-grid” in the South Downs with little more than some sleeping bags and a cheap tent amid a nationwide manhunt after police found the remains of a placenta in their burnt-out car.
But Victoria died after Marten fell asleep with her zipped inside her jacket as they sheltered in the tent in January 2023.
After the unanimous guilty verdict for manslaughter was read out in July, Marten, wearing a blue top and dark trousers, later shouted “it’s a scam” from the dock.
Gordon, 51, has previously served 22 years in a Florida prison for raping a woman armed with a knife and hedge clippers in a 1989 home invasion when he was 14 years old.
A further charge against Gordon for failing to comply with his sex offender notification requirements while on the run was this week dropped by prosecutors.
Prosecutor Joel Smith KC told the Old Bailey that in light of his recent conviction for manslaughter, the Crown Prosecution Service took the view that it was no longer in the public interest to pursue the charge.
Gordon, who appeared by video-link from Belmarsh prison unrepresented by a lawyer, seemed uncertain when asked to enter a plea.
Judge Mark Lucraft KC told him: “If you plead not guilty that will bring proceedings to an end.”
Gordon then responded: “Of course, not guilty.”
Mr Smith then offered no evidence and invited Judge Lucraft to formally acquit Gordon.
The parents are due to be sentenced on 15 September.
