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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
National
Jess Glass

Constance Marten launches bid to appeal baby-killing conviction

Aristocrat Constance Marten is making a Court of Appeal bid to challenge her conviction for killing her newborn baby.

Marten, 38, went on the run with her convicted rapist partner Mark Gordon and their daughter Victoria in early 2023 after their four other children were taken into care.

The baby's remains were found when the pair were arrested following seven weeks on the run.

Following a retrial, Marten and Gordon were unanimously found guilty of manslaughter in July.

Court officials have confirmed that Marten has since lodged an application for permission to appeal against her conviction for manslaughter at the Court of Appeal.

No application has been made by Gordon.

Constance Marten and Mark Gordon were convicted of manslaughter in July (Metropolitan Police/PA) (PA Wire)

In their first trial last year, the defendants were convicted of perverting the course of justice, concealing the birth of a child and child cruelty.

Both Marten and Gordon unsuccessfully challenged their child cruelty convictions at the Court of Appeal in February.

The couple had travelled across England and went off-grid, sleeping in a tent on the South Downs where baby Victoria died.

The defendants were later arrested in Brighton, East Sussex, where police found their baby dead amid rubbish inside a Lidl bag in a disused shed nearby.

The prosecution said Victoria died from hypothermia in the cold and damp conditions inside the flimsy tent or was smothered.

The pair claimed their daughter's death was a tragic accident after Marten fell asleep on her.

Marten and Gordon are due to be sentenced on September 15.

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