07 March 2024 , 12:56
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A woman on trial for killing her own baby has told a court she received £2,000 a month from her family despite claiming to have cut them out of her life.
Constance Marten has taken to the stand today in her manslaughter trial at the Old Bailey, where she and partner Mark Gordon are accused of killing their fifth child, newborn daughter Victoria. She told the court that she has never harmed any of her children and gave baby Victoria "the best any mother could" and did "nothing but show her love".
The court heard Marten was privately educated before studying Arabic at Leeds University and later going on to work for Al Jazeera. She told jurors: "I have been very blessed, I have spent a lot of time travelling, travelling is my passion." Marten was asked to tell the court about where she and Gordon first met, she told jurors they first met in a shop in 2014, before going for a coffee and becoming friends.
Marten took the stand (PA)The pair went travelling together and got married in Peru, despite the union not being recognised in the UK. Asked if she had ever introduced Gordon to her family she replied: "No". She added: "I cut ties with my family two years before I met Mr Gordon. There's a long history of issues with my family. When I met him I took the decision that was it from me and I didn't want anything to do with them."
She told the court: "I was trying to flee my family. I had spoken out about a childhood trauma against one of my family members and the sale of my grandmother's estate. They had used a letter of wishes instead of her will and I had spoken out about it."
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She added that when her first child was born in the winter of 2017 her family would send her £50 a week, but she wrote to them to complain they had a duty of care and by the time her second child was born they were sending her £2,000 a month. She added: "We had more than enough," and her children had everything they needed.
Marten and one of her children (Facebook)Marten and Gordon had four previous children together taken away from them, two who lived with them and two that were removed at birth. Asked by her defence barrister Francis Fitzgibbons KC: "Have you ever harmed any of your previous children?"
Marten replied: "Absolutely not, that’s the sad thing, Mark and I love those children more than anything in the world. I’m pretty angry they have gone through this process. There's nothing I wouldn't do for my children."
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.