Aristocrat Constance Marten's newborn daughter 'did not stand a chance' because of her 'toxic relationship' with partner Mark Gordon, court hears

The newborn daughter of aristocrat Constance Marten 'did not stand a chance' because of her 'toxic relationship' with her partner Mark Gordon, a court heard today.

Marten, 36, and her boyfriend Gordon, 49, are accused of killing baby Victoria after taking her on the run in January last year to prevent the child 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 spent nearly two months camping in a blue tent in the South Downs near Brighton. 

Victoria was later found dead in a Lidl bag for life and prosecutors claim she died from the exposure after weeks in bitterly cold conditions.

Marten claims the baby died in her arms after one night in the tent telling police: 'I believe I fell asleep on top of her.'

The couple had four previous children taken into care which Marten blames on the meddling of her wealthy aristocratic family.

Both deny manslaughter by gross negligence, concealment of the birth of a child, cruelty to a person under 16 and perverting the course of justice.

In his closing speech to the jury today prosecutor Tom Little, KC, said the evidence reveals 'the lies, inconsistencies and fabrications that lie at the heart of the shadow and sham defences the defendants have orchestrated before you in this case.'

He told the jury that Marten had told them 'big fat lies' while Gordon 'did not dare' to give evidence, with his 'silence deafening'. Mr Little later added: 'They are demonstrable lies that go to the core issues in this case.'

'Lies fell from her mouth like confetti in the wind when she gave evidence,' he said.

Mr Little told jurors not to be distracted by comparisons between the conditions in the defendants' tent and people surviving in other parts of the world.

Referring to Marten's evidence, he said: 'Jesus was born in a barn, yes, but Bethlehem is hardly a skiing destination. 

'Tents in Calais are going to have fires next to them. All those attempts by Constance Marten to draw analogies all fail at the first hurdle.'

The reality was that Victoria was 'neglected and exposed to dangerous conditions', jurors were told.

Mr Little said: 'A freezing cold baby girl with just a single babygrow and one vest. No hat.'

'It was no coincidence the only clothes found by police with Victoria's body were those she was seen wearing on CCTV', he said.

Turning to the defendants, the prosecutor said: 'This was a self-absorbed relationship between two selfish and arrogant individuals and caught in the middle of that toxic relationship was a baby that was manifestly not being cared for properly, manifestly not being looked after properly.'

He added that the 'freezing cold' baby was heard crying on two nights in January when it was 'bitterly cold' and at least a week after Marten claimed she had died.

Mr Little went on: 'In her very short life baby Victoria did not stand a chance. That is the cold, hard, brutal reality of this case. There is no point in soft-soaping it. 

'Baby Victoria would still be alive if it was not for the actions and inactions of these two defendants. Nobody else is to blame are they?'

The couple's four older children were 'lawfully and properly' taken into care, he said: 'Everyone can and should be able to see that - apart from Constance Marten.'

'In the real world they caused the death of baby Victoria. How they did it and when they did it are critical questions but be in no doubt about the question of causation,' he told jurors. 

Jurors have heard how the couple went on the run from authorities last year in a bid to keep their baby after their other children were taken into care.

They abandoned their car after it burst into flames near Bolton, Greater Manchester, on January 5 2023 and were finally arrested in Brighton on February 27, days before Victoria's body was found in a disused allotment shed.

Giving legal directions to the jury earlier, Judge Mark Lucraft, KC, the Recorder of London, told the jury they must put 'sympathy or emotion' aside and take a 'fair, careful and reasoned' approach to the evidence'. 

The defendants, of no fixed address, deny manslaughter by gross negligence, perverting the course of justice, concealing the birth of a child, child cruelty and causing or allowing the death of a child.

The Old Bailey trial continues.