The Old Bailey has heard claims by Constance Marten that she had planned to take her newborn abroad to avoid the family travel ban imposed by the High Court. Marten, 36, is currently on trial with partner Mark Gordon, 49, defending themselves against the charge of manslaughter by gross negligence following the discovery of their daughter Victoria’s body in a Lidl bag in a Brighton shed. Giving evidence, Marten said that she had intended to spend the first three months of her daughter’s life with her before finding a carer on Gumtree to take her abroad and register the child as their own. Marten claimed that if there was “a will, there is a way” and insisted that she was a “good mother” and had no intention of being negligent.
Prosecutor Joel Smith had earlier asked Marten where she had intended to go. Marten replied “Anywhere in Europe away from here”, but added that it was “almost impossible to smuggle people abroad”. After being evicted from their London home in August 2022, Marten told the court that the couple spent several months in accommodation booked through Booking.com, before moving to cash payments. She also claimed that her family took her to the Family Court where the travel ban was imposed, as they felt that she was bearing children to sell on the black market and was involved with drugs. She later suggested that they did so to exact a revenge upon her after she had accused them of serious abuse.
Under cross-examination, Smith asked Marten if she had planned to take Victoria just a day after giving birth. Marten denied the suggestion and also claimed that her family had believed her to be attending addiction and mental health sessions. Smith pressed further, suggesting that Marten could have at least handed the child over to social services if she believed that her family intended to kill her. Marten became emotional, saying she would “have preferred her [daughter] to go into care” and had been terrified and under enormous stress.
Marten and Gordon, of no fixed abode, have denied all charges against them, including manslaughter by gross negligence, child cruelty, and perverting the course of justice
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