Aristocrat Constance Marten is returning to court today as the trial into the death of her newborn baby enters its final days.
Marten, 36, and her partner Mark Gordon, 49, have been accused of manslaughter after their daughter Victoria died while they were camping on the South Downs in sub-zero temperatures last January.
In a bid to keep their baby after four previous children were taken into care, the couple had gone on the run and evaded police for nearly two months. Following their arrest, Victoria’s badly decomposed remains were found in a Lidl shopping bag in an allotment shed.
During her evidence, Marten told jurors she had intended to find someone to smuggle them abroad illegally, and claimed her daughter had died in her arms on 9 January after falling asleep in her jacket. She also defended their use of a tent during winter, stating: “Jesus survived in a barn.”
The couple deny charges of gross negligence manslaughter of Victoria between 4 January and 27 February last year, charges of perverting the course of justice by concealing the body, along with concealing the birth of a child, child cruelty, and allowing the death of a child.
The trial continues, with jurors expected to retire to consider their verdicts next week.
