Wealthy aristocrat Constance Marten has an 'Upstairs, Downstairs' attitude and has told a 'constellation of lies' about her baby daughter's death, court hears

Aristocrat Constance Marten has an 'Upstairs, Downstairs' attitude and has told a 'constellation of lies' about her baby daughter's death, a court heard.

Marten, 36, and her boyfriend Gordon, 49, are accused of killing baby Victoria after taking her on the run in January last year to prevent the child being taken away by social services. 

The baby's placenta was found in an exploded car on a Manchester motorway sparking a huge police hunt as the couple spent nearly two months camping in a blue tent in the South Downs near Brighton.

Victoria was later found dead in a Lidl bag for life and prosecutors claim she died from the exposure after weeks in bitterly cold conditions.

Marten claims the baby died in her arms after one night in the tent telling police: 'I believe I fell asleep on top of her.'

The couple had four previous children taken into care which Marten blames on the meddling of her wealthy aristocratic family.

The couple deny manslaughter by gross negligence, concealment of the birth of a child, cruelty to a person under 16 and perverting the course of justice.

In the second day of his closing speech to the jury prosecutor Tom Little, KC, said Marten had mislead the jury by saying Victoria was born on Christmas Eve 2022.

He said she was actually born a week later and this is relevant to how old she was when she died.

There were multiple occasions before the car explosion on 5 January where a witness could have seen a baby or baby equipment but they did not.

Mr Little said: 'Mark Gordon was given ample opportunity in interview to say where the baby was born and he ducked it, why would you duck such an easy question to answer unless you had something to hide?

'Don't ignore where the placenta is found, in a towel in a car, when you consider where this baby was born... On any view there was a total lack of planning.

'Were they really going to smuggle the baby abroad with a nanny? What does that tell you about their parenting?'

He said the defendants had 'acted as a team' by allowing Marten to give one account of what happened while Gordon stayed silent.

Mr Little referred to two witnesses who had stopped to help the couple when their car caught fire by the M61.

'The father and son on the M61, the Hudsons, the good samaritans, pulled over when they saw smoke and then fire.

'They were honest witnesses. You may remember that obvious feeling of guilt that still haunts him because he touched baby Victoria on the head head and he knows if he stayed on the side of road it would all have been different.

'Constance Marten was keen to suggest to Mr Smith (prosecutor Joel Smith) his tone was patronising.

'But it's funny how some people aren't very good at looking in the mirror.

'What did she refer to the Hudsons as? 'Random workmen'. That you may think suggests an obvious sense of misunderstanding - almost an Upstairs, Downstairs mentality.

'Is it she who is patronising, or Mr Smith? It's a matter for you.

'He said he put his hand on the baby's head and said words to the effect of 'God bless, keep safe'.

'Constance Marten says that simply did not happen.

'She has lied to you about why that 'random workman' touched the baby's head.

'It's another lie in a constellation of lies.'

He said Marten was also lying when she said they took some baby clothes for Victoria away from the burning vehicle and he said it was all dumped nearby.

'That baby had nothing more than a baby grow and a vest,' he said.

He said a grieving mother would never have thrown away any of the clothes her baby had worn.

'There is also something you would say is a big fat lie but where there is a grain of truth and 99 grains of falsity.

'That is the idea that in 2022 and 2023 there was some Mission Impossible style private investigators swooping out of the sky and coming from nowhere to detonate vehicles.

'It's fantastical, it's mythical, it didn't happen because you know from the agreed facts there were no private investigators in 2022 or 2023.

'She latched onto things, it's often the sign of a good fraudster, with an aspect of truth somewhere and twists it and warps it.'

Marten's parents have admitted hiring private investigators to find her in 2017 and 2021 but deny employing anyone in 2022 or 2023.

Mr Little said Marten had been 'caught out' in a lie saying she had pretended not to know whether Liverpool had a port before it was revealed she had previously taken a ferry from Liverpool to Ireland.

'No matter how intelligent you are lies will ultimately catch you out - it's a good example of her shameless approach to the truth.

'All evidence on that point is in one direction, apart from the serial liar and nothing from Mark Gordon.'

Mr Little suggested the fact Marten bought a bottle of petrol on 12 January did not mean she was telling the truth about the time the child died.

Marten had claimed she bought the bottle cremate Victoria's body.

'There would be every reason to purchase petrol to light a fire.

'The fact they never go on to do so is beside the point.

'Their presence in the petrol station and purchase of petrol is nothing to point as to whether you accept what Marten says about the death of Victoria.

'Why is she lying about the time of death? Because it got colder and colder in January and that is how the baby died.'

Mr Little said: 'Baby Victoria did not die as a result of some accident.

'Those four children were lawfully taken into care and what happened on the South Downs proved that judge right.

'Both caused the death of this child by hypothermia, and if not are not sure about that the position is the sleeping patterns taken were as dangerous as patterns of sleeping get and on that basis Constance Marten caused the death and Mark Gordon allowed it to happen.'

In his closing speech to the jury on behalf of Mark Gordon, John Femi-Ola, KC, said that Professor Fleming, who gave evidence saying there was not evidence the cause of death was hypothermia, was a respected doctor who had been awarded a CBE for his work on cot death.

He said: 'You saw him give evidence over a number of days in that witness box and we sat and watched the extraordinary, brutal, nasty and downright rude cross examination of that man.

'And why? Because he told you that he could find no evidence in the material he had examined of hypothermia being the cause of death.

'In opening this case Constance Marten and her partner Mark Gordon were described as callous and cruel.

'Callous means heartless, unfeeling, uncaring, insensitive, with a cruel disregard for others.

'That's a woman who you saw in that witness box over a number of days.

'Well, ask yourself in all honesty is 'callous' the first image that comes into your mind?

'The name Constance is rooted in the Latin Constantia.

'It means steadfastness, resolute, faithful, loyal, dedicated and perseverance no matter the obstacle.

'She gave her evidence, posh, but polite, you may think. Calm and intelligent.

'She was steadfast under cross examination. She was resolute and her deep, deep love for her children you may think overflowed.

'She is a strong woman. She's not a person to be pushed around by any man, partner or barrister. She's not easily for turning- she has a strong mind of her own.

'As you watched and listened to her you may think that she is a lioness. We're talking about children - her cubs. It is clear that she loved them.

'Her and Mr Gordon. This is if you like an unlikely couple.

'You will see how she described him in her interviews. She told you her family did not approve.

'She told you her family were embarrassed she had children with Mark.'

Mr Femi-Ola said after giving birth to their first child in Wales the couple moved into a house and cared for the baby well on their own between 2018 and 2019, giving birth to a second child.

'They set up home, they were not living in a tent or in a camper van or off grid.

'There is no suggestion they were drug addicts, no suggestion they're alcoholics no suggestion those two children were not well cared for, were not well clothed and well fed during that period of time.

'During the only time they lived like the rest of us between 2018 and 2019, raising their children without any interference - not a suggestion they were neglected or exposed to cold stress.'

Mr Femi-Ola reminded the jury that Marten had said the children were taken away because of an accident that the judge in the care proceedings believed was domestic abuse towards her by Gordon.

'Constance Marten said they had been in a relationship for nine years and there was an accident.

'Just imagine, put yourself in their shoes. Four children taken.

'The Crown say the whole pregnancy was shrouded in secrecy and whole case seems to proceed on the basis there was something unlawful about not registering a pregnancy.

'Why didn't the Crown tell you that a woman has an absolute right, absolute autonomy over her own body, regardless of whether she is pregnant or not.

'A woman can choose not to register her pregnancy, she can choose not to have antenatal care, she can chose not to have postnatal care.

'She can choose when and where to give birth. It's her choice. It is not unlawful.

'Since the time of Covid more and more women opted for home births without medical assistance.'

He said the couple were clearly paranoid about private detectives as 34 burner phones were found in their car.

'And on the trip south what happens? The first car breaks down.

'And if you are already paranoid about your family, the media, social services that you've got burner phones, and the first thing that happens on the way down is the car breaks down.

'Never mind, buy another one, and two days later they bought another one and it explodes on a motorway!

'Coincidence? Maybe, but it explodes. And can you imagine their mindset, what they must have been thinking?

'And they fled, you may think they fled in haste, they fled in fear and they fled in terror.

'And they left everything behind, £2000, all their clothing, a car, a cat, all left behind.

'Because as Constance Marten's told you she didn't want them to take the baby away, she wanted to protect the baby and be with baby.

'Let's assume it's totally a coincidence, but look what must be going through their minds. Just think about that.

'This other child is going to be taken away so they fled leaving all possession behind grabbing just what they had.'

Mr Femi-Ola said Marten would never have bought the bottle of petrol if the baby had not already passed away.

'We say the key, the real key is that bottle of petrol'.

'An accident happened and they can happen - as Professor Fleming said it can happen anywhere.

'149,000 babies go to sleep in with their parents every single night co-sleeping.

'If co-sleeping with a baby was unlawful they would be prosecuted.

'The law applies to each person equally, even to this unlikely couple.

'She was in her mother's arms. It was a tragic accident and one can only imagine the sheer terror they must have felt when they discovered that their beautiful daughter had passed.

'It wasn't a case of not caring, in fact it appears she couldn't be apart from the dead baby itself.'

He said Gordon could not have prevented the baby's death when he was asleep.

'When he was asleep how could he have stopped what happened?'

Francis FitzGibbon, KC, representing Marten, is due to give his closing speech to the jury tomorrow

Marten and Gordon deny manslaughter by gross negligence, concealment of the birth of a child, cruelty to a person under 16 and perverting the course of justice.

They also deny causing or allowing the death of a child.

The trial continues.