The death of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon’s newborn baby was a “tragic accident”, the Old Bailey heard today.
The pair are accused of gross negligence manslaughter of the newborn, whom they took off-grid to stop her from being taken into care like their four other children.
Launching his closing remarks to the jury, Francis Fitzgibbon KC, defending Marten, said baby Victoria’s death was no more than a “tragic accident”.
He accused the prosecution of painting the mother as a “monster” during the trial, which he alleged had been prosecuted in an “aggressive, bullish way” as Marten endured five days of cross examination.
Marten, 36, and Gordon, 49, both deny the charges of gross negligence manslaughter of Victoria between 4 January and 27 February last year. They also deny charges of perverting the course of justice by concealing the body, concealing the birth of a child, child cruelty, and allowing the death of a child.
The trial continues.