Constance Marten trial shown CCTV footage of on-the-run couple dumping pushchair

31 January 2024 , 18:14

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Constance Marten trial shown CCTV footage of on-the-run couple dumping pushchair

Taxi drivers have spoken of their “concerns” after picking up a wealthy aristocrat and her partner while they were on the run with their newborn baby.

Constance Marten, 36, and Mark Gordon, 49, are on trial at the Old Bailey accused of the manslaughter of their daughter Victoria. It is alleged the couple travelled across England and lived off-grid in a bid to keep the baby after four other children were taken into care. Jurors have viewed CCTV in which the child was allegedly carried under Marten’s coat, only being briefly glimpsed when the couple stopped in East Ham. On Wednesday, the jury viewed more CCTV footage of the couple after they reached Whitechapel in east London.

While there, Gordon had bought a two-person tent and camping bedding - including a children’s unicorn sleeping bag - in Argos, the court was told. The couple allegedly abandoned a buggy and were carrying Argos bags and a Lidl bag-for-life when they got into a black cab shortly after midnight last January 8.

In a statement read to the court, taxi driver Abdirisakh Mohamud said he became “suspicious” and “uncomfortable” during the journey. The male passenger allegedly asked the driver if he was a Muslim, whether he was “trustworthy” and if there were cameras in the cab. Mr Mohamud said he told the man there were cameras, even though there were not, because he wanted to feel “safe”. The man then asked him: “Are you sharing this conversation with anyone?” and Mr Mohamud said “no”, jurors heard. Mr Mohamud said in his statement that he feared “something was not right”.

The court was shown a video of the couple walking through Whitechapel, and apparently dumping the pram that once carried there baby

He asked the couple why they were wearing blue Covid facemasks, and the woman said she was a Muslim and it was her “hijab”, the court heard. On being told by the driver that it was not a hijab, she allegedly told him it was the only thing she had. The man said he wore a mask because he “had a problem with his hair”, the witness said. Mr Mohamud said he decided to drop the couple off early in Green Lanes in Haringey rather than Enfield Tesco Extra where they had asked to go. He said: “The more I thought about it, the more concerned I felt about the baby.”

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A police manhunt was sparked for the couple after a baby’s placenta was found in an exploded car along a Manchester motorway, the Old Bailey heard. The couple then spent nearly two months camping in a blue tent in the bitterly cold South Downs near Brighton before the baby, wearing only a onesie, allegedly froze to death.

The couple are seen in CCTV footage pushing baby Victoria in her pushchair (PA)

Victoria was later found dead in the Lidl bag for life where prosecutors say she spent most of her life. 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, jurors have heard.

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. Marten comes from a wealthy aristocratic family and her father was a page to Queen Elizabeth II.

Gordon initially sat beside Marten when he arrived in the dock earlier this week and asked if she was okay. He was then asked to move by a dock officer who sat between them. Marten wore a white flowery blouse carrying a stack of folders and notes. The couple continued to chat during court proceedings. Marten later gave Gordon a hug as she left court for the mid-morning break. Marten's mother Virginie de Selliers, who has attended every day of the trial, sat at the side of court but her daughter did not appear to look at her.

Amanda Wilson, who works at the General Register Office in Southport, confirmed that there had been no record of the birth of a child between Constance Marten and Mark Gordon between October 22 and February 2023. She confirmed there is a legal requirement to register a birth within 42 days. The trial continues.

Ryan Fahey