Constance Marten and Mark Gordon receive lengthy prison terms after being found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter following two high-profile trials
Aristocrat Constance Marten and her convicted rapist partner Mark Gordon have each been sentenced to 14 years in prison over the death of their newborn baby Victoria, whose body was found decomposing in a Lidl bag inside a disused shed after a nationwide manhunt.
Judge Mark Lucraft KC handed down the sentences at the Old Bailey on Monday, with Gordon, 51, receiving an additional four-year period on extended licence due to his previous violent convictions. Marten, 38, received a straight 14-year sentence.
The couple were found guilty in July of gross negligence manslaughter, child cruelty, concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice following two trials that spanned more than a year and captivated national attention.
During the sentencing hearing, the judge repeatedly warned the pair about “disruption” in the dock as they talked to each other, gestured and passed notes whilst flanked by dock officers. Judge Lucraft told them their behaviour showed a “complete lack of respect” to the court.
Tragic End to Nationwide Search
Baby Victoria’s body was discovered on 1 March 2023, two days after her parents were arrested following a 53-day search that gripped the nation. The couple had travelled across the UK with their newborn, hopping from city to city before ultimately sleeping in a tent on the South Downs during freezing winter conditions.
The infant’s remains were found wrapped in a pink sheet and hidden beneath dirt and rubbish inside a Lidl bag at a Brighton allotment. Victoria’s body was too badly decomposed to establish the exact cause of death, though prosecutors argued she died from either hypothermia in the cold, damp conditions or was smothered.
Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford of Scotland Yard said after the original conviction: “Today, the justice we have long fought for has finally been served for baby Victoria. The selfish actions of Mark Gordon and Constance Marten resulted in the death of a newborn baby who should have had the rest of her life ahead of her.
Flight From Authorities
The couple’s desperate flight from authorities began on 5 January 2023 when their car burst into flames on the M61 near Bolton, Greater Manchester. Firefighters discovered the pair had abandoned the vehicle before help arrived, leaving behind nappies, clothing, approximately £2,000 in cash, 34 “burner” phones and a placenta, which triggered immediate concerns for a newborn’s welfare.
What followed was an extraordinary cat-and-mouse chase across England. The couple paid hundreds of pounds for taxi journeys, travelling from the North West to Harwich in Essex, East Ham in London and eventually to Newhaven. Despite Marten having £19,000 in her bank account, they were later caught on CCTV scavenging in bins for food.
The defendants had gone on the run to prevent Victoria being taken into care, as their four previous children had been. When Marten became pregnant for a fifth time, she kept it secret, giving birth in a hired holiday cottage on Christmas Eve 2022.
Aristocratic Background Meets Violent Past
The case highlighted the extraordinary contrast between the couple’s backgrounds. Marten came from wealth and privilege, raised on a large landed estate with connections to royalty, educated at private schools and benefiting from trust funds. She had studied Arabic at the University of Leeds and worked for Al Jazeera before falling out with her family over her relationship with Gordon.
Gordon’s past was starkly different and deeply troubling. Born in Birmingham in 1974, he moved to Florida with his mother at age 12. In 1989, aged just 14, he held a woman against her will for more than four hours and raped her while armed with a knife and hedge clippers. Within a month, he committed another violent offence involving aggravated battery.
He was sentenced to 40 years in prison, serving 20 years before being deported back to the UK in 2010 and placed on the Sex Offender Register. Despite his violent history, which was largely withheld from the first jury, Gordon maintained his innocence throughout.
Mother’s Plea and Character Witnesses
During mitigation, the court heard from Marten’s mother, Virginie de Selliers, who sat in the well of the court. In her statement, she said she was “horrified” at how her daughter had been characterised during the trials, insisting it did not reflect “the daughter I remember.”
“What I do know is she showed sheer determination when fighting for her children and her daughter Victoria,” Mrs de Selliers stated. “It is my sincere hope that when considering her future, her courage and loyalty and deep sense of fairness are not overlooked.”
Philippa McAtasney KC, mitigating for Gordon, told the court he suffered “a great deal of upset and anxiety” when Victoria’s older siblings were taken into care before she was born. “He says that the children being taken away affected everything, affected their whole lives, and they were suffering a trauma, and he accepts that poor decisions were made,” she said.
Extraordinary Trial Disruptions
The trials themselves were marked by extraordinary disruptions and delays. Marten was represented by a total of 14 barristers across the two trials, whilst Gordon sought counsel from five lawyers before eventually representing himself towards the end of the retrial.
According to reports, Judge Lucraft said at one point that he had “never” before encountered the “sort of attitude” shown towards him by Gordon and Marten, noting that the defendants had gone to extraordinary lengths to try to sabotage their retrial, including refusing to turn up to court and talking to each other during proceedings.
The Crown Prosecution Service had sought a retrial after the first jury in 2024 could not reach a verdict on the manslaughter charge. Fresh evidence was presented in the second trial, including detailed weather data analysis showing temperatures close to freezing and expert testimony about the effects of wind and wet clothing on a newborn.
Police Praise and Final Words
In his closing remarks, Judge Lucraft acknowledged the complexity of the investigation, stating: “This was clearly a difficult and painstaking investigation for which many police officers were involved. I express my sincere thanks to all of those involved.”
He added: “Inevitably, some officers will have undertaken a significant amount of work to bring a case of this nature to court and to a conclusion.
Chief Superintendent James Collis from Sussex Police reflected on the impact of the case: “The search for Constance Marten and Mark Gordon ended in the most tragic circumstances and had a profound effect on the local community in Sussex. Our thoughts remain with baby Victoria and extend to her wider family after what must have been an extremely difficult time.”
Detective Chief Inspector Joanna Yorke, who led the homicide investigation, had previously stated: “Speaking personally as a father, I find it hard to comprehend how, instead of providing the warmth and care their child needed, Mark Gordon and Constance Marten chose to live outside during freezing conditions to avoid the authorities.”
The couple maintained throughout both trials that Victoria’s death was a tragic accident, with Marten claiming she had fallen asleep on the baby after not sleeping properly for several days. However, prosecutors successfully argued that their reckless actions were driven by a selfish desire to keep their baby “no matter the cost.”
As the sentences were handed down, ending more than two years of legal proceedings, the case stands as a stark reminder of how a combination of privilege, past trauma, and a desperate desire to avoid authorities led to the most tragic of outcomes – the preventable death of an innocent child who would have recently celebrated her second birthday.
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