Aristocrat Constance Marten and her boyfriend “camped off grid” in the dead of winter with their newborn daughter before the girl’s body was found wrapped in a plastic bag in a shed, a court heard today.
Marten, 35, and Mark Gordon, 48, are accused of killing baby Victoria in rural Sussex, after fleeing with the child between January 5 and February 27.
Their disappearance sparked a massive manhunt involving hundreds of Metropolitan and Sussex police officers, as well as search and rescue volunteers who scoured 90 square miles of land for the child.
They searched for weeks before the parents were arrested. Victoria’s body was found on March 1 in an allotment garden in Brighton, under a pile of nappies.
The couple are charged with manslaughter of Victoria by gross negligence, concealment of the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice.
Aristocrat Constance Marten is accused of murdering baby Victoria in rural Sussex after she and her partner Mark Gordon fled with the child between January 5 and February 27
A court heard today that the body of Marten’s daughter Victoria, buried under nappies, was found in an allotment garden in Brighton. In the photo: aristocrat Marten
The couple (pictured) are charged with manslaughter of Victoria by gross negligence, concealment of the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice
They are also charged with child abuse and causing or permitting the death of a child between January 4 and February 27.
Marten appeared at the Old Bailey today in a white floral blouse and red lipstick.
Today she applied for bail, but Judge Mark Lucraft, KC, the Recorder of London, refused and she remains in custody.
Marten and Gordon were first reported missing on January 5 after their car caught fire on the M61 near Bolton.
It was thought that Marten had only given birth a few days earlier and had not been evaluated by medical professionals.
In the following days there were sightings in a number of places including Liverpool, Essex, South London and East Sussex.
On one occasion, the pair were caught on CCTV wearing heavy outdoor clothing and carrying bags on the street. They were also seen sleeping in a blue tent.
The pair escaped detection by the police by paying only cash and booking hotels with false names.
An earlier drawing of Gordon, charged with grossly negligent homicide, concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice
Gordon was led from Crawley police station in March after being charged with manslaughter along with his partner Marten
The family’s disappearance sparked a massive police hunt involving hundreds of officers and volunteers
Police teams roamed the woods on March 1 as they continued to search for baby Victoria
Police officers pictured in March searched allotments near the Downs in Sussex
Born into a wealthy family with royal connections, Marten grew up on the Crichel House estate in Dorset.
Marten’s estranged father Napier Marten is a former page to Queen Elizabeth II. Her grandmother was the Queen Mother’s goddaughter and was a playmate of Princess Margaret as a child.
Once considered a promising drama student, Marten met Gordon in 2016. They took to a nomadic lifestyle after leaving their home in South East London last September.
Marten worked as a freelance photographer before starting drama school, and quit when she met Gordon.
Mr Marten and her mother Virginie de Selliers made a public plea through the media for Constance’s whereabouts, while police offered a £10,000 reward for information leading to the pair’s finding.
Marten and Gordon will then appear for a custody hearing on August 25.
A four- to six-week trial date has been set for January 2 next year.