The partner of aristocrat Constance Marten was convicted of raping a woman in the United States when he was a teenager and sentenced to 40 years in prison, a court has heard.
Marten, 38, and Mark Gordon, 50, are charged with the manslaughter of their baby daughter Victoria, who died in a tent on the South Downs in early 2023.
The pair, of no fixed address, have denied the charge and are on trial at the Old Bailey.
Jurors have been told the defendants were convicted at an earlier trial of concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice.
Prosecutor Tom Little KC told jurors on Thursday that in 1989, Gordon, then aged 14, held a woman against her will in Florida for more than four hours and raped her while armed with a “knife and hedge clippers”.
Just weeks later, he entered another property and carried out another offence involving “aggravated battery”, Mr Little said.
The court heard that Gordon was sentenced in February 1994 to 40 years in prison. He served 22 years.
Mr Little told jurors that the first set of offences occurred on 29 April 1989 in Florida and consisted of one offence of armed kidnapping, four sexual assault offences and one offence of armed burglary.
Discussing the offences, Mr Little asked Detective Sergeant Ian Valentine: “Did he break into the house of a next-door neighbour? Before doing so, did he place a nylon stocking over his face to conceal his identity?”
Giving evidence, Det Sgt Valentine replied: “Yes.”
Mr Little also asked the officer: “Was he armed with a knife and hedge clippers?”
Det Sgt Valentine replied: “Yes.”
Mr Little asked the officer: “Did he demand that the female in the property undress?”
Det Sgt Valentine replied: “Yes.”
The prosecutor also asked the officer: “Did he attempt to vaginally rape her?”, “Did he orally rape her and perform other sexual assault offences?” and “Was that female held by him for a period of four-and-a-half-hours against her will in the property”?
Det Sgt Valentine replied “yes” to all the questions.
Mr Little said Gordon’s second set of offences occurred on 21 May 1989 and consisted of armed burglary and aggravated battery at a property occupied by a family, while armed with a “flat-headed shovel”.
The prosecutor asked the officer: “Once inside the property, did he beat a male occupant with a shovel about the head?”
Det Sgt Valentine replied: “Yes.”
While cross-examining the police officer, Gordon said the convictions took place “due to human rights violations”, he had not been supervised in police interviews relating to them, and that he had challenged the convictions while in custody.
Earlier this week, jurors heard that Gordon had pleaded guilty to assaulting two police officers who had been called to a maternity ward in Wales in 2017 after Marten gave birth to one of Victoria’s older siblings.
Gordon had to be forcibly restrained during the incident and a new father had stepped in to help the two female officers before more police arrived to arrest him.
In his earlier evidence, Gordon, who is representing himself, made no reference to his troubled past but told jurors: “Everybody faces challenges in life.”
He blamed the police manhunt for setting off a series of “calamitous” events culminating in Victoria’s death.
He said that he and Marten “put ourselves out” to ensure the baby’s wellbeing and “no one could have anticipated” her death.
A high-profile manhunt was launched after the defendants fled their burning car near Bolton, Greater Manchester, and went off-grid in a bid to avoid Victoria being taken into care, the Old Bailey has heard.
The prosecution had alleged the baby died from hypothermia or was smothered while co-sleeping in a “flimsy” tent, despite past warnings.
Her body was discovered with rubbish inside a shopping bag in a disused shed near Brighton after the defendants were arrested.
In her evidence, Marten told jurors that the baby died after she “blacked out” and fell asleep over her after feeding her.
The trial continues.
