Aristocrat granted permission to attraction sentence for killing her child whereas on run from cops
Constance Marten, 39, has been granted permission to appeal the 14 year prison sentence she received following the death of her baby daughter back in 2023
Marten has been given the green light to appeal (Image: Metropolitan Police/PA Wire)
Constance Marten has been given the green light to challenge her 14-year prison sentence for the death of her baby daughter while she was on the run with her boyfriend.
The 39-year-old aristocrat was found hiding out after their infant child Victoria died in a tent on the South Downs in January 2023. Baby Victoria was discovered dead after her parents went to live off-grid in a “thin and flimsy” tent in the middle of winter.
The officer who found the remains has since spoken of the tragic discovery, which occurred on March 1 last year. The pair had attempted to evade the authorities, to stop social services seizing the newborn – just like they had with their four older kids.
Mark Gordon was found guilty of manslaughter(Image: PA)
Marten and Gordon were both found guilty of manslaughter, child cruelty, concealing the birth and perverting the course of justice after two trials at the Old Bailey. Judge Mark Lucraft KC handed for 14 years each, with Gordon getting an extra four years on licence.
And now now the 39-year-old Marten has been granted permission to appeal that hefty sentence, and she’s also pushing to overturn her gross negligence manslaughter conviction.
No court date has been fixed yet, although the judge agreed with prosecutors that baby Victoria froze to death after being left out in the bitter cold, and dismissed the the couple’s claims that she had been accidentally smothered while they slept in the tent.
Constance Marten has been given the chance to appeal her sentence(Image: Handout, Getty Images)
.Lucraft said the crime was made worse because the infant was so vulnerable and the pair ignored previous warnings.
In a dramatic televised sentencing, he blasted them: “It is clear throughout the period neither of you gave much or any thought for the care or love for your baby.”
He branded their behaviour “arrogant” and accused them of treating Victoria to “neglect of the most serious type”.
Marten was arrested back in 2023(Image: Met Police)
Cops launched a massive nationwide manhunt after the couple’s car went up in flames on a motorway near Bolton in January 2023.
They then vanished across England, living off-grid in a tent where little Victoria died days later. After seven weeks on the run they were finally nicked in Brighton.
Officers later found the tragic baby’s body stuffed in a Lidl bag among rubbish in a nearby disused shed.
