Aristocrat and lover ‘hid child underneath her coat’ earlier than ‘going off-grid’
- Go deeper into the trial of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon with the Mail’s acclaimed podcast The Trial. Click right here or discover it on Spotify or Apple
This is the second aristocrat Constance Marten and her lover stroll calmly right into a bus station together with her child allegedly hidden underneath her coat simply after their automotive burst into flames.
CCTV proven to jurors reveals Marten, 36, and her boyfriend Mark Gordon, 49, getting into Bolton bus interchange because the aristocrat seems to be concealing the new child beneath her coat.
The pair are accused of killing their new child child Victoria by taking her on the run to forestall her being taken away by social providers.
Marten and Gordon deserted their automotive, which was later discovered burning on the M61 close to Manchester, and fled with their unclothed child, a court docket heard at the moment. They then requested an area resident to provide them a raise into Bolton city centre and from there used Marten’s belief fund funds to take a 270-mile taxi from Liverpool to Essex.
They allegedly spent tons of of kilos on taxis and lived off-grid earlier than their arrests in East Sussex on February 27 final 12 months.
On March 1, the newborn was discovered lifeless in a Lidl bag coated in garbage inside a disused shed, the Old Bailey has heard.
CCTV footage taken on January 5 proven to the jury reveals the couple strolling into Bolton bus interchange. Pictures additionally present the charred stays of the couple’s automotive on the M61 – with particles scattered all through the automobile and the physique of the automotive blackened by flames after it exploded and the hearth was extinguished.
The child’s placenta was discovered within the automotive on the Manchester motorway – sparking an enormous police hunt because the couple traversed the UK looking for a port from which to flee, the Old Bailey heard.
New video launched by police reveals the couple strolling into Bolton bus interchange as Marten seems to be concealing the new child beneath her puffer jacket
A photos reveals the within of the couple’s burnt out automotive. The child’s placenta was discovered within the automobile, the Old Bailey heard
The couple’s burnt out automotive on the M61. The automotive was discovered burning on the M61 close to Manchester
Aristocrat Constance Marten is alleged to have given beginning in secret and determined to go ‘off-grid’
Constance Marten (left) and Mark Gordon each deny manslaughter by gross negligence
An picture dated January 5, 2023 from the Metropolitan Police of Mark Gordon and Constance Marten’s burning Peugeot 206 on the M61, which was performed in court docket throughout their trial
Marten and Gordon spent almost two months tenting in a blue tent within the bitterly chilly South Downs close to Brighton earlier than the newborn, carrying solely a onesie, allegedly froze to dying.
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The couple deny the manslaughter of Victoria by gross negligence, concealment of the beginning of a kid, cruelty to an individual underneath 16 and perverting the course of justice by disposing of the physique.
The couple met in 2016 and had 4 youngsters in fast succession who have been all taken into care after Marten gave beginning to her first little one utilizing a faux Irish accent pretending to be a traveller, jurors have heard.
Marten comes from a rich aristocratic household and her father was a web page to Queen Elizabeth II.
The couple had escaped the burning automotive close to Manchester at round 6pm, operating up the muddy financial institution and climbing over a fence earlier than dumping most of their belongings in a taking part in area, the court docket was informed.
They then allegedly turned up outdoors the house of a person named Wai Wai Balash and requested for a raise.
In an announcement learn to court docket, Mr Balash mentioned he got here out of his house to take his son to soccer follow.
‘I walked out and was shocked to see a lone feminine stood roughly 5 metres in entrance of my home. I may see she was carrying one thing in her fingers.
He mentioned Marten approached and mentioned her automotive had damaged down and requested for a raise to ‘the closest city.’
Gordon was standing additional down the highway underneath a road gentle, he mentioned.
‘It appeared to me she did not know the world in any respect. She was very calm and assured.
‘I believed it was unusual the feminine was asking me for a raise and the male did not communicate.
‘I noticed the feminine had small child in a blanket in her arms, I might say one or two months outdated at most.
‘It was making noises all through the journey however hadn’t cried.’
He gave them a raise to Bolton city centre, the place they requested the place they might discover motels.
The couple then took a taxi from Bolton to Liverpool.
At 9pm, simply three hours after leaving their burning automobile the couple flagged down a taxi pushed by Ali Yaryar.
Giving proof by video hyperlink, Mr Yaryar mentioned the very first thing Marten did when she received into the automotive was ask him to place the heating on.
‘She was chilly, for that point of 12 months she had not a lot garments on. You may see she was shivering.’
Marten’s brother Tobias Marten and mom Virginie de Selliers on the Old Bailey final Thursday
Marten requested to go to Harwich, Essex, which Mr Yaryar had not heard of so he requested her to place a postcode in his cellphone.
‘I mentioned this can be a lengthy journey – we go to Heathrow Airport from Liverpool for £500 however this can be a quiet evening – I can go there if you would like for £400.’
He mentioned he provided to drive house and alter into his private Audi automobile which he mentioned could be hotter and extra snug.
He mentioned he seen Marten was hiding a child underneath her jacket which she was breastfeeding in the course of the journey.
He provided to get a automotive seat however Marten mentioned the newborn was too small.
Gordon paid him £400 in £20 notes. He mentioned the newborn was carrying no garments besides a nappy. Gordon slept whereas Marten additionally tried to sleep, he mentioned. They arrived at Harwich round 2.15am.
A court docket artist’s sketch of prosecutor Tom Little KC making his opening assertion whereas being watched from the dock by defendant Mark Gordon on the Old Bailey in London final Thursday
‘I feel it was close to the ocean someplace. I provided them my cellphone I mentioned do you need to name anybody. They did not know the place they’re.’
John Femi-Ola, KC, representing Gordon, prompt the newborn did have clothes on however was being modified when Mr Yaryar noticed her simply in a nappy.
However, Mr Yaryar replied: ‘I feel the newborn had no garments.’
Marten obtained almost £19,000 in funds into her account from a belief fund whereas she was on the run, the court docket heard.
Jurors have been earlier informed Marten and Gordon went to Liverpool and Harwich as they have been searching for a port to flee from.
This afternoon, the court docket heard that the couple arrived at a Premier Inn in Harwich simply after 3am on January 6 with their child asking for a room claiming they’d damaged down.
They checked in utilizing the surname ‘Thomas’ and appeared ‘fairly distressed’.
A CCTV picture from January 7, 2023 displaying Mark Gordon and Constance Marten in London
Marten mentioned they’d damaged down and needed to take a protracted taxi journey from Liverpool.
Receptionist Taylor Roy mentioned: ‘I requested whether or not she would want a cot arrange and she or he mentioned that would not be crucial because the child could be staying together with her.’
When the cardboard machine lit up, Marten mentioned ‘oh no, we have got to pay money’.
The receptionist defined they needed to verify ID for anybody paying in money.
He mentioned: ‘She mentioned ‘we do not have it, we do not have it’ and appeared as if she was going to cry.
‘I prompt she may simply keep in reception and she or he checked out me as if it was under her and mentioned ‘please can we simply have a room.’
Marten mentioned: ‘Please, we do not have wherever to go, or something.’
A photograph issued by the Metropolitan Police of a messy hob at a vacation cottage in Northumberland, which was proven in court docket in the course of the Marten and Gordon trial
He mentioned because the couple appeared determined and had a child he determined to allow them to keep.
Marten then went outdoors to get Gordon, who walked via the foyer hiding his face, the court docket heard.
Rae Robson, who works on the resort, informed the court docket that Marten got here downstairs at 12.20pm the subsequent day, 20 minutes after take a look at time, and requested to prolonged their keep.
She mentioned she requested Marten to pay by card or give ID however Marten mentioned she did not have any so she informed them they might not keep and gave them ten minutes to go away the resort.
After ten minutes she went together with her supervisor to knock on the door, and Marten and Gordon got here out.
‘She had an enormous coat on and it appeared like one thing was beneath it,’ Ms Robson mentioned.
Ms Robson then went into the room and seen a odor.
‘A extremely, actually unhealthy odor virtually like rotting flesh – if you realize what piercings or contaminated piercings odor prefer it was that amplified.
‘I could not keep in that room for very lengthy, I needed to go in, open the window and depart.’
A court docket sketch of Marten (left) and Gordon with a dock officer within the center in March 2023
Half an hour later Marten and Gordon have been nonetheless within the restaurant within the Premier Inn, she mentioned.
The couple then went to a different resort the subsequent evening, the place Gordon once more stayed silent as Marten spoke to employees, the court docket was informed.
Gordon attended court docket at the moment carrying a light-weight blue shirt and tie whereas Marten was not in court docket however the jury was informed a hyperlink was out there for her to affix.
The rich household lived at Dorset property Crichel House throughout Marten’s youth and her grandmother was a playmate of Princess Margaret and goddaughter to the Queen Mother.
Marten and Gordon deny manslaughter by gross negligence, concealment of the beginning of a kid, cruelty to an individual underneath 16 and perverting the course of justice.
They additionally deny inflicting or permitting the dying of a kid. The costs date between January 4 and February 27, 2023. The trial is ready to final six weeks.
