Aristocrat accused of baby killing will plead next week

An aristocrat charged with killing her newborn daughter and leaving her body in a shed will enter pleas next week.

Constance Marten, 36, and boyfriend Mark Gordon, 49, sparked a huge police hunt after they went on the run with baby Victoria in January this year.

The infant was later found dead in a plastic bag in a shed under a heap of nappies on a Brighton allotment.

Marten and Gordon are accused of the manslaughter of Victoria, concealment of the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice.

She has informed the court she will be ready to enter her pleas on 12 October.

Gordon appeared at the Old Bailey today (tues) via video link from HMP Belmarsh wearing a grey tracksuit and black skull cap.

He does not currently have legal representation but said he is ‘in the process’ of finding new solicitors..

Gordon spoke to confirm his name, saying: ‘Yes your lordship but I don’t hear you too well, I don’t hear the sound very well.’

Judge Mark Lucraft, KC, the Recorder of London, said he expected solicitors to attend on 12 October and inform the court is they will pursue an application to dismiss.

Hundreds of officers from the Metropolitan Police and Sussex Police, as well as search and rescue volunteers, scoured 90 square miles of land in the search for the baby.

The couple were caught on CCTV wearing heavy outdoor clothing, carrying bags down the street, before they were arrested.

They were reported missing on 5 January after their car caught fire on the M61 near Bolton.

It is thought Marten had given birth just a few days before and had not been assessed by medical professionals.

Over the following days, there were sightings of them in a number of places, including Liverpool, Essex, south London and East Sussex.

The couple had been sleeping rough in a blue tent and had avoided being traced by the police by only making payments in cash and booking hotels using false names.

Earlier prosecutor Jeremy King told the court the baby’s placenta was found in an abandoned car on 5 January with Marten’s passport next to it.

The trial is set for 2 January 2024.

Marten was born to a wealthy family and grew up at Dorset estate Crichel House and her grandmother was a playmate of Princess Margaret.

The promising drama student met Gordon in 2016 and they led a nomadic lifestyle after leaving their home in southeast London last September.

Marten’s estranged father Napier Marten is a former page to the late Queen and her mother was the Queen Mother’s goddaughter.

Marten worked as a freelance photographer before starting her drama course, and dropped out when she met Gordon.

Mr Marten and her mother Virginie de Selliers made public pleas for Constance’s whereabouts through the media while police offered a £10,000 reward for information leading to the couple being found.