Constance Marten trial - latest: Judge summing up evidence as court case over baby death enters final stages
Marten and Gordon are accused of gross negligence manslaghter of the newborn
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The judge is summing up the evidence as the trial of aristocrat Constance Marten and her partner Mark Gordon over the death of their baby enters its final stages.
The couple is accused of gross negligence manslaughter of the newborn, whom they took off-grid to stop her from being taken into care like their four other children.
The Recorder of London, Judge Mark Lucraft KC, began summing up the evidence to the jury at the Old Bailey on Thursday. Evidence recapped so far includes eyewitness Ken Hudson, who stopped to help the couple when their car caught fire on the M61 near Bolton on 5 January.
Mr Hudson previously told the court he fears baby Victoria would still be alive if he had stayed at the roadside with the parents until police arrived. But the pair fled with baby Victoria after he pulled away, leaving their burning car at the roadside along with most of their possessions.
Police later found £2000 in cash, Marten’s passport, 34 burner phones and a placenta wrapped in a towel in the burnt-out vehicle.
Marten, 36, and Gordon, 49, both deny the charges of gross negligence manslaughter of Victoria between 4 January and 27 February last year. They also deny charges of perverting the course of justice by concealing the body, concealing the birth of a child, child cruelty, and allowing the death of a child.
The trial continues.
Parents deny private investigators were trailing Marten when she went on the run
In agreed facts read to the jury on Thursday, they were told Marten’s parents had made statements to the police about their use of private investigators.
The court heard that Marten’s mother employed a private investigator for two weeks in October 2016 because she was worried about her daughter.
Her father told police he had hired investigators to find her in 2017 and 2021.
However both deny any private investigator was instructed to find her in 2022 or in 2023 – when she went on the run with Gordon and baby Victoria.
Expert says co-sleeping not ‘inherently dangerous’
Professor Fleming insisted co-sleeping was not “inherently dangerous”, adding: “It’s normal in our species.”
It comes after Marten previously told the court she fell asleep with baby Victoria on her chest zipped inside her jacket – before she awoke to find her dead.
Challenged about the conditions inside Marten and Gordon’s tent, he admitted they were “not optimal”.
“Are you saying that a baby being on their chest under a coat on a mother who is lying on the ground next to a tent surface on one side, somebody else on another side and a number of sleeping bags and pillows – are you saying that’s safe sleeping are you?” Mr Little said.
He replied: “No I am not. I am saying it’s not optimal.”
‘Not safe’ to carry baby in a Lidl carrier bag
Professor Fleming agreed it would not be safe for a baby to be carried in a Lidl carrier bag in cold conditions.
Mr Little asked the expert: “On the basis that a baby of a few weeks old in a Lidl shopping bag for life…with limited clothing on in cold conditions - would you say that that was a safe thing to do?”
Professor Fleming responded: “No it’s not safe. Of course it’s not.”
Expert challenged on study into babies in tents
Continuing his cross examination, Mr Little KC challenged Professor Fleming over a study he had written into babies raised in tents – called gers - in cold conditions in Mongolia.
Mr Little pointed out a ger is large enough for families to walk around in, often insulated with wool and heated by a fire.
He said it was “not helpful” to compare it to the “flimsy” tent Gordon and Marten were staying in on the South Downs.
“I was not comparing the tent with a ger I was comparing the environmental temperature around the baby,” Professor Fleming told the court.
Defence expert admits never carrying out a post-mortem examination on an infant
Professor Peter Fleming, an expert on infant health, previously told the jury it was “exceedingly unlikely” baby Victoria died from the cold.
However, under cross examination, he admitted he has never carried out a post-mortem examination on an infant.
Challenged by prosecutor Tom Little KC, he said he is paediatrician and not a pathologist but insisted he had observed around 200 post-mortems.
Prosecutor Tom Little KC said: “You have carried out no post-mortem examinations?”
Professor Fleming replied: “I have attended and watched very closely hundreds of post-mortem examinations.”
Constance Marten and Mark Gordon return to the dock
The trial of aristocrat Constance Marten and her partner Mark Gordon has resumed.
Marten, 36, appeared in the dock on Thursday wearing a pink blouse alongside Gordon, 49, wearing a blue shirt and navy tie.
Trial due to resume at 2pm
The final parts of evidence are due to be heard this afternoon, with the court reconvening at 2pm.
We’ll be bringing you all the latest updates here.
Key points from Constance Marten’s evidence
Over the course of her evidence, Constance Marten admitted that she felt “responsible” as a mother for the death of her baby Victoria and broke down in the dock on several occasions.
She told jurors that she had “neglected” herself while on the run after giving birth at a cottage on Christmas Eve, with her newborn dying inside her jacket on 9 January.
She also defended living in a tent during sub-zero temperatures, arguing that it was being looked at from a “Western perspective” and adding: “Jesus survived in a barn.”
During cross-examination, she took frequent aim at her “bigoted” family who she claimed had hired private detectives to follow her, and said that her four other children had been “stolen” by the state.
When is the trial likely to conclude?
Jurors in the trial of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon are coming to the end of nearly three months of evidence, after it first began in January.
It has suffered a number of delays but is now due to conclude next week, with jurors hearing the remaining evidence today.
What did the court hear last time?
Ahead of an Easter break, jurors heard evidence from Professor Peter Fleming, an expert on infant health.
Considering the circumstances of how baby Victoria died, he told the court: “I have seen no evidence of hypothermia as a cause of death but the description of how the baby was being cared for would make hypothermia exceedingly unlikely.”
He added that the length of Victoria’s feet were “most compatible” with death occurring at the age of two to three weeks.
Prof Fleming said Marten’s description had been “extraordinarily consistent”, saying: “My assumption is she is telling the truth unless there is evidence she is not.”