Child Killers, Aristocrat Constance Marten and her convicted rapist partner Mark Gordon have been ruled guilty of murdering their newborn infant.
Constance Marten, 38, and Mark Gordon, 51, absconded with their daughter Victoria in early 2023 following the removal of their four other children into protective custody.
Authorities initiated a worldwide search following the ignition of their vehicle on the motorway adjacent to Bolton, Greater Manchester.
Constance Marten and Mark Gordon journeyed around England and camped in a tent on the South Downs, where their infant, Victoria, passed away.
Constance Marten and Mark Gordon were apprehended in Brighton, East Sussex, after seven weeks of evasion.
After an urgent search, authorities discovered the infant deceased within refuse inside a Lidl bag in an abandoned shed nearby.
Victoria’s remains were excessively decayed to determine the cause of death.
The prosecution asserted that she succumbed to hypothermia due to the cold and damp circumstances within the inadequate tent or was suffocated.
Constance Marten and Mark Gordon asserted that their daughter’s death was an unfortunate accident resulting from Constance Marten falling asleep on her.
On Monday, a jury in their retrial unanimously convicted Marten and Gordon of manslaughter.
In their initial trial last year, Constance Marten and Mark Gordon were found guilty of obstructing justice, concealing childbirth, and child maltreatment.
Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford of Scotland Yard stated, “The justice we have long sought has finally been served for baby Victoria.”
The egocentric behaviours of Mark Gordon and Constance Marten culminated in the demise of a newborn infant who was entitled to a full life ahead of her.
The senior officer stated that Victoria’s death was “entirely preventable,” as the defendant had numerous chances to “act appropriately” and seek assistance.
He stated that the family court’s decision to place Constance Marten’s four further children into care was “demonstrated to be correct.”
Jurors at Constance Marten and Mark Gordon’s initial trial in 2024 were not informed of Gordon’s history of violence, which was only partially disclosed during the subsequent trial.
In 1989, at the age of 14, Mark Gordon unlawfully detained a woman in Florida for over four hours and sexually assaulted her.
Mark Gordon executed the assault while equipped with a knife and hedge clippers.
Within a month, he trespassed onto another home and committed an additional act of severe battery.
Mark Gordon, who relocated with his mother from Birmingham to the United States at the age of 12, received a 40-year prison sentence and was released after 22 years.
The jurors in the retrial looked noticeably disturbed by the disclosures, despite Constance Marten inadvertently revealing Gordon’s rape conviction during his testimony.
In 2017, Mark Gordon was convicted of assaulting two female police officers at a maternity ward in Wales, where Constance Marten delivered their first child under an assumed identity.
Jurors were not informed that Mark Gordon was also implicated in a 2019 incident of domestic violence that resulted in Constance Marten sustaining a fractured spleen.
It was revealed during legal proceedings that Mark Gordon had denied paramedics access to their London residence to provide medical assistance to her, despite her being 14 weeks pregnant.
She spent eight days in the hospital and then allegedly jeopardised her life and that of her pregnant child by attempting to discharge herself, with Gordon’s assistance.
Subsequent to that occurrence, the family court determined that the couple’s other children should be placed in care.
Constance Marten concealed her fifth pregnancy, delivering the child in a rented holiday house on Christmas Eve 2022.
The Constance Marten and Mark Gordon’s efforts to conceal baby Victoria triggered a significant police alert following the discovery of a placenta in their abandoned vehicle near Bolton on January 5, 2023.
Constance Marten and Mark Gordon absconded with Victoria, abandoning the household cat, Sasha, in a box to die, around £2,000 in cash, 34 burner phones and various possessions.
They expended hundreds of pounds on taxis to transport them from the North West to Harwich in Essex, East Ham in London and then to Newhaven.
Victoria was briefly observed on CCTV footage in London donning the identical teddybear pattern babygrow that was subsequently found with her remains inside the Lidl bag.
The prosecution claimed that Victoria was transported beneath Constance Marten’s jacket or within a Lidl bag, lacking sufficient clothing, warmth, or shelter.
Subsequent to her demise, Constance Marten and Mark Gordon were recorded on CCTV foraging in refuse bins for sustenance, despite Marten having received substantial funds from a trust and possessing £19,000 in her bank account.
Constance Marten and Mark Gordon were apprehended after procuring supplies in Brighton on February 27, 2023, and declined to disclose the baby’s whereabouts, with Gordon stating: “What’s the big deal?”
Over a thousand Metropolitan Police officers conducted a search for Victoria over two days until she was found in an allotment shed, enveloped in a pink sheet and concealed amid dirt and debris within a Lidl bag.
During a police interrogation, Marten stated: “I had her in my jacket, and I had not slept adequately for several days; consequently, I fell asleep while holding her in an upright position.”
Upon awakening, I discovered that she was deceased. Jurors were informed that social workers had cautioned Constance Marten on the dangers of dozing off with an infant in her proximity and that a tent was inappropriate for such circumstances.
Constance Marten and Mark Gordon provided testimony in their retrial, however each truncated their statements, with Constance Marten characterising the prosecution as “heartless” and “diabolical.”
It is anticipated that they will get incredibly light sentences that in no way will match the 40 years Gordon got for two rapes in the USA.
If you or anyone you know have been affected by the people highlighted in this website, then please report those individuals to the Police on 101 (999 if an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details of the options for reporting a crime. You can also make a report at Crimestoppers should you wish to be completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.