A RUNAWAY aristocrat and her lover killed their newborn daughter after putting their relationship before the life of the baby, a court heard.
Constance Marten, 37, and Mark Gordon, 50, are accused of living off-grid with the tot after their four previous children were taken into care.
Constance Marten is accused of killing her baby daughter[/caption]
She and Mark Gordon went on the run from police, court told[/caption]
Jurors at their retrial heard the baby died while living in a tent in the South Downs with hardly any clothes or means of keeping or remaining warm”.
Marten and Gordon deny manslaughter by gross negligence and causing or allowing the death of a child.
The Old Bailey was told the couple were convicted of concealing their daughter’s birth and perverting the course of justice at an earlier trial.
Prosecutor Tom Little KC said the case “involves the entirely avoidable death of a young baby”.
He continued: “A young baby girl who undoubtedly would still be alive if it was not for the reckless and ultimately grossly negligent conduct of the two defendants in the dock.
“They were the parents of that young baby girl, but they put their relationship and their views of life before the life of that little baby girl.
“Rather than act in the obvious best interest of a vulnerable baby, because all babies are vulnerable when they are but some days old, they decided as they had often done before that they knew best, they knew better than anyone else.
“They decided to ignore the advice they had previously been given and decide that in the middle of winter and in obviously dangerous conditions they would deprive their baby of what she needed – warmth, shelter protection, food and ultimately one word – safety.”
The court heard Marten gave birth to the baby in secret without seeking any medical assistance.
Her and Gordon then “essentially went off-grid” and lived in a tent with “hardly any clothes or means of keeping or remaining warm or dry and with scarcely any food”.
The couple failed to register their daughter’s birth and moved from location to location while carrying the tot in a bag for life, it was said.
As cops intensified the hunt against them, Marten and Gordon’s “desperation” allegedly increased along with the “risks and dangers to the baby”.
Jurors heard that despite the temperature dropping, they decided to camp in “obviously dangerous conditions” with “totally insufficient and inadequate clothing and equipment for the baby”.
Mr Little said: “The weather got colder after a few days but even at the outset the risk of hypothermia was blindly obvious.
“The need to try to keep warm in wet and damp and cold conditions in a small, thin and flimsy tent which was not made for winter even in England also created obvious suffocation risks both with items in the tent and with themselves.
“So, as I have said, was the risk and reality of hypothermia. and It was this grossly negligent and obviously dangerous conduct that caused the death of their baby daughter.
“After the baby died, which must have been in January 2023, the defendants did not hand themselves in but immediately or seek any sort of medical assistance immediately as you might have expected if this was some form of accident.
“Instead they remained off-grid, trying to hide for a number of weeks, leaving the body of their dead baby in a shopping bag covered in rubbish, whilst that baby decomposed.”
Gordon is currently not attending the retrial, jurors heard.
The couple deny manslaughter and causing or allowing the death of a child.
The trial continues.
Marten fled police after giving birth, it was said[/caption]
