Constance Marten and lover strolled to bus station with baby hidden under coat
Surveillance footage captured the moment aristocrat Constance Marten sauntered into a bus station with her baby concealed under her coat, just minutes after her car erupted into flames.
Jurors at the Old Bailey saw Marten, 36, and her boyfriend Mark Gordon, 49, walking calmly into Bolton bus station while hiding the newborn in CCTV footage today. The duo stand accused of manslaughter by gross negligence of the baby. They are also charged with perverting the course of justice, concealing the birth of a child, child cruelty, and causing or allowing the death of a child.
Their car was found burning near Manchester on the M61, with images of the wreck also shared in court. Inside the gutted vehicle, police found the baby's placenta, which sparked a huge manhunt as the couple travelled the UK, trying to find a port to escape from. On March 1 last year, Victoria was found unclothed in a Lidl bag that had rubbish piled on top of it inside a dilapidated shed.
A witness claimed Victoria cried "in distress" as her on-the-run parents refused help days before she was found dead in a shopping bag, The wealthy pair were allegedly motivated by a "selfish" desire to keep their daughter Victoria after four other children were taken into care.
The pair were reportedly hellbent on refusing to allow their child to be taken into care (PA)On Monday, a member of the public described confronting the couple near Harwich port in Essex after watching a news report about their disappearance. Dan Gosling was taking his dog for a walk when he came across the defendants sitting on a flower planter and recognised them from the television, he told jurors on Monday.
Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him
He said: "It was freezing cold. There was frost on the floor. There was chill in the air, a fresh January morning to say the least." Mr Gosling said the baby was dressed in a white onesie and wrapped inside Marten's coat in a towel or blanket. She gave the kind of cry he "could not walk away from", Mr Gosling said.
Prosecutor Joel Smith asked: "To you, did the baby sound distressed?" Mr Gosling said: "Most definitely." Describing his exchange with the pair, Mr Gosling told jurors: "I said 'Excuse me, are you the people who are on the television advertised as missing with a new baby?' I cannot remember his exact words but he denied it. I offered them a lift to the hospital. He said he was doing the best for his child, he wanted to keep his family together and do the right thing and something like that. They said they thought they had plans. They knew what they were doing. They said they were trying to go to London to try to see family or friends."
Mark Gordon being lead out of Crawley Magistrates' Court (PA)
A bin at a holiday cottage the pair stayed at (PA)Mr Gosling said he felt compelled to turn around and speak to them again because something was "not right". He said the baby was crying "consistently" as Marten walked around cradling her in her arms trying to settle her. Mr Gosling said he offered to take the couple home with him, give them a cup of tea and then take them to hospital. He added that even though he thought his wife would "do her nut" at the idea, he felt it was the "morally correct thing to do".
"Ms Marten, she seemed compliant, she was willing to come, maybe have a cup of tea, maybe get a lift to the hospital. She seems a bit swayed," he said. "Mr Gordon was quite insistent he was alright. He had a plan, he was going to London to stay with his friends and family." During the conversation, Mr Gosling was asked what he would do for his child and he responded that he would "go to the ends of the earth to protect my son, that any parent would rightly do".
Their burning car left on the M61 near Manchester (PA)He stressed to the couple that his concern was for the well-being of the baby and not about anything they had done, the court was told. But Gordon just "fobbed" him off, the witness said. Mr Gosling added that Marten looked "scared" and "anxious" and "like a woman who had just given birth".
Mr Gosling denied a suggestion by Gordon's defence that he had "embellished" his evidence and that the baby was not crying. He said: "I recall a child screaming to the point where I had to physically turn around and involve myself with people because the child was distressed. It was really traumatising to listen to." He added that as a father himself, he knew the difference between ordinary crying and genuine distress. Challenged on if it was a Lidl bag he had seen the couple with, Mr Gosling said he shopped there rather than another supermarket like Waitrose. The case continues.
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