'When I woke up she wasn't alive': Constance Marten told police her baby died ... trends now

A socialite who allegedly kept her newborn baby in a Lidl 'bag for life' then dumped it told police that the girl died in her jacket when she fell asleep, a court heard today.

Constance Marten, 36, who is on trial with her partner Mark Gordon, 49, told officers how she 'fell asleep holding her sitting up and when I woke up she wasn't alive', although the court heard she gave different accounts of when her baby died before settling on a date of January 11.

Marten and Gordon, who were described at the Old Bailey as 'cruel and arrogant' parents, left the girl in a disused shed inside a shopping bag covered in rubbish while the mother claimed she 'debated whether to cremate her' with a bottle of petrol.

The court heard the baby was dumped 'as if she was refuse' while they were living off-grid - and their 'selfish desire' to keep the baby ultimately led to her death.

Jurors heard that the infant was the couple's fifth baby, their other children having previously been taken into care. The court was also told that after the body was found, Marten answered police questions for the first time. She claimed the baby was born on Christmas Eve 2022 in Cumbria and was to be called Victoria.

Marten said that she had died three days after her car exploded, before correcting this to five or seven days. She said: 'I had her in my jacket, I hadn't slept properly in quite a few days, I fell asleep holding her sitting up and when I woke up she wasn't alive. When I woke she wasn't alive in my jacket. I believe I fell asleep on top of her. 

'But I literally didn't, she didn't, she didn't make any crying or movements so. And when I woke up she wasn't alive. Then I was holding her in my jacket, that's how I usually held her but I think I fell asleep crouching over her and she passed away.'

Marten and Gordon are accused of fleeing across the country in a 'desperately selfish' bid to prevent their fifth child being taken away from them.

The Old Bailey heard that the couple described as 'reckless, utterly selfish, callous, cruel and arrogant' treated the infant 'as if she was refuse', dumping her body when she died in freezing conditions after two months on the run.

When police caught up with the couple in February last year, the child's body was found in a shopping bag covered in rubbish in a disused shed, it was alleged.

In a case which gripped the country, Marten, 36, is said to have given birth in secret and decided to go 'off-grid', living in a tent in the middle of winter with Gordon causing the 'entirely avoidable death' of their child.

The court also heard how Marten had been considering handing herself in to police, saying: 'I wanted to turn myself in at the time, I've been debating it, obviously, it's two months later now, but I kept her body for a number of reasons.

'Number one, erm, I mean I'm sure you've seen the soil on top of it inside the bag. Because I wanted firstly - I've been debating whether to hand myself in, which I wish I did earlier, but the whole media presence and everything is kind of terrifying a little bit.

'And also I kept the body because I wanted to have an autopsy done - I didn't bury her because I wanted her to have a proper burial but I couldn't get a proper burial until I had an autopsy.

'So I've been carrying her around not knowing what to do really. I didn't want to bury her in a forest, or some random place, because I wanted her to have a proper burial but also because I was concerned, err, if an animal might eat her, that would affect the autopsy.

'I don't know if you found there's a bottle of petroleum in the bag because I debated whether to cremate her myself, get rid of the evidence, but I decided to keep her because I knew at some point in the future I was going to be asked about it, but I just didn't know what to do.

'So that's why we're here really. I didn't say anything yesterday because obviously the charge is quite serious. I didn't know what to do.'

She said the car had exploded when they were driving and she had the placenta with her because she intended on burying it as a 'religious thing because you can bury it and grow a tree from it- it's just something we do.'

Marten added the baby had 'the clothes on her back- a very warm waterproof onesie.'

She said they had intended on finding a flat but were 'shocked' when someone approached and asked if they were the two people from the news.

'We didn't think we were on national television. And that's when things kinda went downhill from there. But she always had clothes and nappies and things to keep her clean.

'She was well looked after- she wasn't cold or anything.

'Everyone seemed to recognise us, jeering and pointing and taking pictures of us, so that's when we decided we're not going to find a flat, because anyone could hand us in to the police.

'That's when we decided to get a tent at that point.

'So, in order to save her from the services, then we would have to probably remove ourselves from society till we could find a house.'

Earlier today, prosecutor Tom Little, KC, said: 'A young baby girl who would still be alive if it was not for the reckless, utterly selfish, callous, cruel, arrogant and ultimately grossly negligent conduct of these two defendants – who were the parents of that young baby girl.

'They put their relationship and their view of life before the life of a little baby girl. So that, in just a few words, is what this case is all about.

'Rather than act in the obvious best interests of a vulnerable baby and one that they should have cared for and looked after, they decided instead that they knew best.'

He told jurors: 'They decided that in the middle of a cold winter and in cruel and obviously dangerous weather conditions that they would deprive the baby of what it needed – warmth, shelter, food and ultimately safety.

'They essentially went off-grid and lived in a tent with hardly any clothes, no means of keeping and remaining warm and dry and with scarcely any food.

'Their selfish desire to keep their baby girl led inexorably to the death of that very baby.'

The court heard that Marten, whose father was a page to the late Queen, had had four other children with her boyfriend Marten, who had all been taken into care.

She became pregnant with their fifth child in early 2022 and gave birth sometime after December 28, the court heard. 

Mr Little said: 'No doubt because they knew that the child would be taken into care this pregnancy and the subsequent birth was concealed from everyone including family and friends, healthcare professionals and social services.'

He told the court: 'This led to them camping in freezing and obviously dangerous conditions on the South Downs with insufficient clothing, equipment and food, never once seeking any medical attention.

'After the baby had died the defendants did not hand themselves in but instead remained off-grid and trying to hide, leaving the body of their dead baby in a shopping bag covered in rubbish, as if she was refuse, and left in a disused shed.'

Police were first alerted to the existence of the baby when the placenta was found wrapped in a towel in a car seen burning on the M61 near Manchester, the court heard.

Mr Little said: 'The defendants have been in a relationship since approximately 2016.

'At the time that you are considering they had no home. There is an important context and background to this prosecution, namely that the baby girl in the case that you are trying was not their first child.

'In fact the baby in the case that you are trying was their fifth baby in the previous eight years or so.

'I will return to that important context and background later, but following extensive social services interaction with these defendants all four of their other children had been taken into care.

'The second defendant became pregnant in early 2022 with the baby that this case is all about.

'As you now know this was to be her fifth child. No doubt because they knew that the child would be taken into care this pregnancy and the subsequent birth was concealed from everyone including family and friends, healthcare professionals and social services.'

Mr Little said it was likely the baby was born after 28 December but Marten disputes this.

There were many sightings of the couple across the country after their disappearance became front page news, jurors were told.

Mr Little said on December 19, 2022, Gordon attended a police station in Sheffield.

'The reasons for that have nothing to do with this case and are not relevant to it. But he was required to tell them and he did that he was of no fixed abode.'

On December 20, 2022, the couple booked into a holiday cottage in Northumberland- booked until Boxing Day.

'The defendants appeared to have left that property in something of a hurry and when the owners of the property checked the property on December 28, 2022 it was in a something of a state.

'There was food debris, and some other rubbish and stains noticeable.

'However, the defendants had washed the bedding and sheets from the master bedroom, which were found, laundered, in the washing machine.'

On Boxing Day, Gordon again attended a police station and informed them he was homeless.

This was the last time he would report at a police station, the court heard.

On December 28, 2022 the couple's Suzuki motor vehicle broke down and a Highway Recovery worker went to collect them.

'He could not see through the back or side windows of the vehicle because they were blocked by what appeared to be clothing,' Mr Little said.

'The impression he had was that they had been living in the vehicle. Once the broken down vehicle had been loaded on to the truck they left the motorway.

'The original destination had been Leeds University. But as they set off, Gordon asked to go to Thorne and specifically an address of 90 King Street.

'The recovery driver took them to that location and then there was something of a disagreement.'

He then took them to a nearby Sainsbury's where he left them.

'The importance of this evidence is that the recovery driver did not see or hear any baby at any time, nor was any reference made to a baby.

'So you will have to consider in that context any suggestion that the baby had been born at this time. If so, where was it? If so, did they leave it in the car? If so, why leave it in the car?'

By January 4 the couple had moved across the Pennines and checked into an Ibis Hotel at Lymm services in Cheshire.

Later that day, they checked into a hotel in Manchester.

'At this point it appeared they may have been considering trying to leave the country, perhaps by boat to Ireland.

'They had begun to by this stage travel generally at night - no doubt to reduce the risk of being identified and seen.

'On the evening of

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