Inside couple's dirty rented holiday home before going on the run with baby

26 January 2024 , 21:22

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Photographs of the state of the holiday let were shown to the jury (Image: PA)

These photographs capture the filthy holiday cottage Constance Marten and her lover Mark Gordon rented before they went on the run with their newborn daughter, a trial heard today.

Marten, 36, and Gordon, 49, are alleged to have caused the death of tiny Victoria, who it's believed froze to death in just a onesie. A court heard Marten, an aristocrat, and Gordon lived in a tent "off grid" in the middle of winter so Victoria would not be taken away from them by social services.

But the baby's placenta was found in a burnt-out car on a motorway near Manchester on January 5, 2023 sparking a huge police hunt as the couple traversed the country, trying to find an escape route from the UK, the Old Bailey heard.

A jury has now seen pictures taken inside a holiday cottage in Northumbria that the defendants rented from December 20, 2022. Its owner Maria Richardson said she returned to the house eight days later to find it in a filthy state. Nine days later Marten and Gordon would be declared missing after abandoning their car.

Speaking at the trial at the Old Bailey today, Ms Richardson said: "'On December 20, 2022, at 4.04pm my husband came downstairs to tell me we had our first booking. The booking was for the same day for six nights and the total cost was £367.20."

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Marten then messaged Ms Richardson, saying: "Your property looks nice even without a bath - it's a really nice cottage, one I intend to tell my friends about." Marten later rang her and asked how she could get the keys, the court heard.

The property owners found the cottage left in a 'disgusting state' on December 28, 2022 (PA)

Cigarette butts strewn over the kitchen at the address in Northumbria (PA)

Ms Richardson said: "I asked where she was coming from and she stated Sheffield. I explained it would be pitch black due to time and gave her the key code... She sounded very young and demure during the phone call. I remember thinking she was in a busy place - it sounded very noisy and at the time I thought it was a busy office."

The court heard that Marten later texted her to say: "Hi Maria thank you very much for the prosecco and chocolates - that was much appreciated. I'm curious, did you do the interior design yourself? Thanks, Constance." Ms Richardson then sent texts on Christmas Eve and on Boxing Day with check-out instructions, but Marten did not reply.

Jurors were told the couple 'trashed' the cottage (PA)

Maria Richardson said the hob was caked in food and there were stains all over the kitchen (PA)

She and her husband then went to the cottage, which has a backyard overlooking woodland, on December 28. She said: "As I went to put the key in the front door we both noticed the living room curtains were still closed.

"The first thing I noticed was candle wax all over the living room table and on the carpet. There were washed-up pans on the kitchen sink, dirty cups, glasses. The hob was caked in food and there were food stains all over.

"There were urine stains all over the toilet and floor. There was cat litter all over the floor and chair in the living room. There were numerous empty water bottles around the bedroom floor, empty cartons of fruit, the quilt had red wine stains and the throw had a curry stain. In the back bedroom, the bedding on both single beds was unslept in but disturbed."

Constance Marten, an aristocrat, allegedly killed her newborn daughter (PA)

The bedsheets from the double bed were found laundered in the washing machine, the court heard. Marten claimed to police she gave birth in the holiday cottage, but the prosecution disputed that.

Victoria's placenta was found near Manchester eight days after her parents had left the cottage. She was later found dead in a Lidl bag, where prosecutors say she had spent most of her life – but Marten and Gordon claim they took care of her before she suddenly died.

The couple deny the manslaughter of Victoria by gross negligence, concealment of the birth of a child, cruelty to a person under 16 and perverting the course of justice by disposing of the body. They also deny causing or allowing the death of a child.

Jurors previously heard the couple met in 2016 and had four children in quick succession who were all taken into care, after Marten gave birth to her first child using a fake Irish accent pretending to be a traveller.

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Mark Gordon also denies the manslaughter of Victoria (PA)

Tom Little KC, prosecuting, had said: "You know that the defendants did everything they could to conceal the birth [of Victoria], just as they had tried to hide the pregnancy. They told nobody. They did not register the birth as you are required to do by law. There were no ante-natal or post-natal medical checks. The baby was not born in hospital. From all the evidence you can safely infer that both defendants acted at all times intending to and did conceal the birth of this child."

He said they disposed of the body in a location where it was unlikely to be found. The lawyer added Marten's account that she wanted to preserve the body for an autopsy did not make sense as the body was left to decay.

Gordon sat alone in the dock today and Marten was not present. Marten's mother Virginie de Selliers and her brother Tobias Marten both attended court.

Marten and Gordon deny manslaughter by gross negligence, concealment of the birth of a child, cruelty to a person under 16 and perverting the course of justice. They also deny causing or allowing the death of a child. The trial continues.

Bradley Jolly