Constance Marten Denies Causing Her Baby Harm, Telling Jurors She 'Did Nothing But Show Her Love'

Constance Marten has denied causing her baby any harm, telling jurors "I did nothing but show her love".

Marten, 36, who is from a wealthy family, and her partner Mark Gordon, 49, are on trial over the death of their newborn baby daughter Victoria.

Appearing in the witness box for the first time, she told the court she felt "disbelief, shock and intense grief" when her baby died.

Giving evidence at the Old Bailey today, Marten said: "I did nothing but show her love... I gave her the best (care) that anyone would have."

She told jurors: "I don't think it's anything I will move on from. I feel guilty because she was in my arms. I feel like it's not an easy thing to live with."

A nationwide search was launched after a placenta was found in the couple's burnt-out car by the motorway near Bolton, Greater Manchester, on 5 January 2023.

Prosecutors say the couple went on the run for 54 days, living off-grid in a tent on the South Downs in wintry conditions, because they wanted to keep their baby, as their previous four children had all been taken into care.

Victoria's badly decomposed body was found in a Lidl bag inside an allotment shed in Brighton, East Sussex, on 1 March last year, days after the couple were arrested on 27 February.

Marten told police Victoria died when she fell asleep in the tent while holding her under her jacket, the court has heard.

While the cause of her death is "unascertained", jurors have heard she could have died from the cold or co-sleeping.

Marten told the court that she and Gordon had never done anything to harm any of their children, adding: "There's literally nothing I wouldn't do for my children".

She added: "Mark and I love our kids more than anything in the world, so I'm pretty angry they've had to go through this."

She said the care proceedings were "one of the most disgraceful cases", and when asked about social services, she said:

"I don't believe they are there to help parents or children."

The court heard Marten was privately educated before attending Leeds University and took photographs during the Egyptian revolution as well as working for news network Al Jazeera as a researcher.

'I have been very blessed'

She told jurors "travelling is my passion" and "I have been very blessed" after describing her trips to India, Nepal, Nigeria, Uganda, Peru and throughout Europe.

Marten said she met Gordon in an Indian shop that sold incense but didn't introduce him to her family, who she had broken ties with about two years earlier.

"I didn't want anything to do with them," she said.

Marten said she and Gordon became good friends and went travelling to Peru, where they married in an unofficial wedding ceremony.

"Like any relationships we had our ups and downs," she said. "There's a lot of goodness there."

She said they went to Wales "trying to flee my family" after her grandmother's estate was sold against the wishes of her will and believed she was being "trailed by private investigators".

Marten said she was cut off "overnight" by her family while she was heavily pregnant with her first child, while her three brothers had houses bought for them.

"They treat me quite differently. I don't think they agree with my marriage and the choices I have made," she said.

The court has previously heard Marten received nearly £50,000 from a trust fund before going on the run.

'I wanted Victoria with me'

She told the jury she and Gordon were moving every one to three days while she was pregnant with Victoria "so she would not be taken".

"I wanted Victoria with me for the first three to six months of her life so I could give her the love that she needs because I don't think it's fair for any children to be removed from her parents," she said.

Marten said she planned to possibly find a carer, who would "potentially bring her abroad", to meet her and Gordon, without the local authority knowing.

But after giving birth in a rented cottage in Northumberland on 24 December 2022, she said their plans "disintegrated" after their car "blew up" on 5 January.

"We just acted on impulse and instinct," she said. "What are we going to do to save Victoria?"

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 trial continues.

(c) Sky News 2024: Constance Marten denies causing her baby any harm, telling jurors she 'did nothing but show