Moment police find Constance Marten's dead baby in Lidl bag captured on bodycam
This is the heartbreaking moment police found Constance Marten's dead baby in a Lidl bag - captured on police bodycam footage.
Constance Marten, 36, and her partner Mark Gordon, went on the run with their newborn baby, Victoria, fleeing from police before eventually being tracked down in Brighton, East Sussex.
The court has previously heard that the aristocrat and her partner had already had four children taken into care, before little Victoria tragically died after they spent almost eight weeks on the run.
But after Marten and Gordon were caught, they refused to tell police where Victoria was - then days later police made the heartbreaking discovery of the child's remains. She was found in a disused shed on an allotment near where the couple were arrested.
At the Old Bailey today, the defendants sat in the dock as police bodycam footage was played of the moment Victoria's remains were found on the afternoon of March 1, last year.
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Officers could be seen carefully investigating a large red Lidl shopping back, that had been placed on the decking outside the shed on the allotments. They pulled out pieces of rubbish, to reveal the baby inside.
One of the searching officers recognised the red Lidl bag - and found little Victoria inside (police Handout)Pc Allen Ralph, who had been sent from Scotland Yard to help in the search, told jurors he had already seen earlier CCTV footage of the distinctive Lidl bag before he was deployed with a colleague to search the allotments. As he approached the disused shed, he noticed a broken window and lifted the door to get in.
The first thing he noticed was the smell, he said: "I remember saying ‘either something is dead in there or something has died’.”
Aristocrat Constance Marten had previously had four children taken away from her (Getty Images)
Once arrested, Mark Gordon refused to tell police where Victoria was and instead complained about his treatment (Getty Images)Inside there was a tent, out-of-date milk and bread on a makeshift table and the shopping bag underneath, he said. During a break, Pc Ralph commented to his partner that he was sure he had seen that bag before so they went back to take a closer look.
He told jurors: "I lifted it and it was heavy and there was no reason for it to be heavy from what I could see inside. I remember quite clearly there was just a lot of rubbish."
Inside, Pc Ralph found two baby nappies, a pink baby blanket, drinks cans, cardboard, leaves and other rubbish. He said he put on gloves before putting the bag on the decking outside to examine its contents. As they searched, his colleagues said that they had seen what looked like the head of a doll, the court heard.
Pc Ralph told the court of searching through the bag, and finding the young baby's body inside (police Handout)Pc Ralph said: "The head was to the left. It was concave, the top of the head. That was what we touched. I unwrapped it two or three times before I got to a part where I could see red pooling.
"A couple of seconds after, we went to the right-hand side. I put my hand down. My hand slipped on something. I looked and that was the baby’s leg. My hand was soaking wet."
Pc Ralph said the baby was “very pale” and “very cold” to the touch. The full inventory of the Lidl bag was read out in court including the pink blanket that the baby was wrapped in, a pink baby vest, and babygrow.
The shed on an allotment in Brighton where the baby was tragically found (police Handout)Other items included a black blanket, a can of Budweiser, two Coke cans, two Hollingbury Golf Club scorecards, a glass water bottle refilled with petrol purchased at a Texaco garage on January 12 2023, oil and leaves, two torn Argos carrier bags, one WH Smith bag, several pages of The Sun newspaper dated January 12 2023, and an egg mayonnaise and cress sandwich package.
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It was alleged that some of the items were bought by Marten at a Texaco garage in Newhaven last January 12. On being told a baby had been found dead, Marten confirmed the child was hers before starting to cry.
In a police interview played in court, Marten said she gave birth in Cumbria on Christmas Eve and the baby had died in the Harwich area around January 8.
Inside the shed where police found Victoria's body (police Handout)She said: "I had her in my jacket and I hadn’t slept properly in quite a few days and erm, I fell asleep holding her sitting up and she, when I woke up, she wasn’t alive."
Previously, the court heard how the couple went on the run with their newborn daughter on January 5 last year after their car burst into flames on a motorway near Bolton. As police launched a nationwide search for the missing baby the defendants travelled across England and ended up living off-grid in a tent on the South Downs for around seven weeks, jurors have heard.
Last February 20, they were caught on CCTV footage carrying a Lidl bag and rummaging through bins outside Hollingbury Golf Club in Brighton. They were arrested on suspicion of child neglect after a member of the public spotted them and called 999 last February 27.
Days after the couple were arrested, police finally found the body (police Handout)The defendants were taken to separate police stations and repeatedly refused to answer questions about the missing child, instead complaining about their own situation and treatment. Jurors were shown photographs of Marten looking dishevelled and with furniture stuffing coming out of her clothes.
Prosecutor Joel Smith told the court: "The police still did not know where the child was, whether the child was alive or dead or even the sex of the child.”
At Brighton police station, Marten told officers: “I’m sorry I haven’t eaten or slept for a long time. I need to get some sleep before I can make a proper decision.” She went on to answer “no comment” to all questions she was asked before the baby was found.
Following his arrival at Worthing police station, Gordon was invited to tell his “side of the story”. But instead he got out of a wheelchair and laid on the floor, claiming his legs were hurting.
Gordon would go on to complain he was receiving "sub-par treatment" and that he was being spoke to "like I'm a nobody". As his daughter remained missing, and was dead, he continued: "I mean I’m a suspect. I have not committed any crimes, therefore I should have respect. I’m entitled to respect ... I’m in custody but that doesn’t mean I’m a dog.”
Gordon asked for pills and claimed he was in “distress” before continuing: “I am the detainee. You can’t just take my rights around me … lock me up and say ah we don’t care about your feet, you’re fine, just go ahead and get interviewed. I feel like I’m scum. I feel like I’m scumbag actually. I feel like I’m a piece of shit. I feel like that’s how I’ve been treated."
On being told by an officer that the “main concerns” were for the baby, Gordon instead continued to complain of his own pain.
An officer said: “I want to ask one question.” Gordon replied: “What?” The officer asked: “What was the baby’s name?” Gordon looked at his solicitor and then refused to say. Following the discovery of the baby girl, Gordon continued to say “no comment” to all questions, the court heard.
The defendants, of no fixed address, deny manslaughter by gross negligence, perverting the course of justice, concealing the birth of a child, child cruelty and causing or allowing the death of a child.
The Old Bailey trial continues.
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