UK - Constance Marten & Mark Gordon charged, Newborn (found deceased), Bolton Greater Manchester, 5 Jan 2023 #5

[Earthwindfire]

Is it just me or are there a lot of people who claim to have seen two high profile missing people, but they didn't call the police until weeks later? Once they knew the baby was dead

It's insane, isn't it? Yet they are all so sure of what they saw that they feel able to stand up in court and say their piece on it!

 

[Pidgy]

I wonder why a juror had witness Pauline Mason brought back to court to be asked the question "At the point in the park when you say you recognised him, what did you know about Mark Gordon?"

Her answer as reported in the Argus was "Not much about Mark Gordon, only the name came up in Bolton, there was a car on fire, a baby, a mother and a fire and they had escaped the car."

His name came up - uh?

I wonder whether this witness during her first appearance said something about recognising Mark Gordon that at least one juror may have felt was iffy in some way.

It's good for justice when jurors strive hard to appraise all the evidence and they call a witness back if there's something more they wish to know. Hats off to this juror.

Although presumably there are some things about MG's history as widely reported before the arrests that cannot be mentioned in court? (?)

 

[Nikynoo]

I wonder why a juror had witness Pauline Mason brought back to court to be asked the question "At the point in the park when you say you recognised him, what did you know about Mark Gordon?"

Her answer as reported in the Argus was "Not much about Mark Gordon, only the name came up in Bolton, there was a car on fire, a baby, a mother and a fire and they had escaped the car."

is that the witness that changed their testimony to say that the baby was dead?

 

[rightsaidfred]

4:07pm
'She was determined to report it'
Neena Crinnion, defence for Mark Gordon, cross examined Mr Mason.

She asked why he and his wife reported the sighting on March 1, days after it happened.

She said: “You explained to police you and your wife watch tv news – BBC and Sky?”

Mr Mason said: “Yes and we read the local paper The Argus. I am very keen on watching the news.

“You couldn’t ignore it, it was the big story at the time.

“I have to mention this, the Babes in the Woods murder. Pauline was convinced she saw them and didn’t report it. If she had reported it, it might have gone differently. This time she was determined to report it.”

4:00pm
Witness searched park after alleged sighting
Michael Mason, who was on a walk with his wife Pauline who said saw the couple and a blue tent in Stanmer Park on February 19 last year, said he and his wife went back to the sight to look for evidence.

Tom Little asked: "Did you notice anything significant on that day in Stanmer Park?"

Mr Mason said: "At the time, Pauline had pointed out to me a blue tent. There are campers there so didn’t take much notice.

"Sometimes you see things but don't notice them.

"Later on we were talking and had seen on news and paper and Pauline said to me I pointed that out to you.

"I can't honestly say whether I noticed it."

A few days later, they went back to the park.

Mr Mason told the jury: “We checked two bins and the hedgrows in case we found some nappies or discarded clothes that could be of assistance to police. We didn’t find anything there.”

 

[Skigh]

Constance Marten trial: Witness heard 'high pitched' cries of a baby

Constance Marten, 36, and Mark Gordon, 49, are on trial in London accused of the manslaughter of their daughter Victoria after allegedly travelling across England and living off-grid on the South Downs.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Giving evidence by video link, Mrs Hidden said: 'A couple of nights before I saw the couple there was the sound of a baby crying. I was asleep but the crying woke me up.'

She said it seemed to be moving from the direction of a golf course on the South Downs and was 'continuous' for about 30 to 40 minutes.

On the first night it happened there was a storm and the weather was windy and rainy, she said.

She told jurors: 'I know people take babies out to get them to sleep but I don't think they would do it in a storm.'

The next night she allegedly heard a baby crying again and it was also raining.

Mrs Hidden said: 'It was definitely a young baby crying.

'It's a different sound to an older baby crying, more constant, a bit more high pitched, urgent sounding.'

Mrs Hidden told jurors that she saw the couple on a coastal path some time between last January 16 and 27, when she took her dog for a walk.

 

[rightsaidfred]

4:07pm
'She was determined to report it'
Neena Crinnion, defence for Mark Gordon, cross examined Mr Mason.

She asked why he and his wife reported the sighting on March 1, days after it happened.

She said: “You explained to police you and your wife watch tv news – BBC and Sky?”

Mr Mason said: “Yes and we read the local paper The Argus. I am very keen on watching the news.

“You couldn’t ignore it, it was the big story at the time.

“I have to mention this, the Babes in the Woods murder. Pauline was convinced she saw them and didn’t report it. If she had reported it, it might have gone differently. This time she was determined to report it.”

4:00pm
Witness searched park after alleged sighting
Michael Mason, who was on a walk with his wife Pauline who said saw the couple and a blue tent in Stanmer Park on February 19 last year, said he and his wife went back to the sight to look for evidence.

Tom Little asked: "Did you notice anything significant on that day in Stanmer Park?"

Mr Mason said: "At the time, Pauline had pointed out to me a blue tent. There are campers there so didn’t take much notice.

"Sometimes you see things but don't notice them.

"Later on we were talking and had seen on news and paper and Pauline said to me I pointed that out to you.

"I can't honestly say whether I noticed it."

A few days later, they went back to the park.

Mr Mason told the jury: “We checked two bins and the hedgrows in case we found some nappies or discarded clothes that could be of assistance to police. We didn’t find anything there.”

Mrs Mason - who said she saw CM carrying a dead baby on 19th Feb - is way too invested in this.

Searching hedgerows and bins for nappies?

... but then waiting from 19th February to 1st March (i.e. days after the arrears and the same day the body was found) to actually report it?

And she seems to be 'witnessing' a remarkable number of high profile child deaths.

Just... what the actual feck?!

 

[Cardgame]

Mrs Mason - who said she saw CM carrying a dead baby on 19th Feb - is way too invested in this.

Searching hedgerows and bins for nappies?

... but then waiting from 19th February to 1st March (i.e. days after the arrears and the same day the body was found) to actually report it?

And she seems to be 'witnessing' a remarkable number of high profile child deaths.

Just... what the actual feck?!

The timeline here is confusing though.

"She asked why he and his wife reported the sighting on March 1, days after it happened"

More like two weeks. If the defence is trying make that point, why refer to this as days?

in the first instance they surely went back to see if the tent was still there, and then started hunting for nappies.

 

[Nikynoo]

Mrs Mason - who said she saw CM carrying a dead baby on 19th Feb - is way too invested in this.

Searching hedgerows and bins for nappies?

... but then waiting from 19th February to 1st March (i.e. days after the arrears and the same day the body was found) to actually report it?

And she seems to be 'witnessing' a remarkable number of high profile child deaths.

Just... what the actual feck?!

her sister was the other witness on wednesday.

 

[Cardgame]

Will be great to hear the additional detail in the trial podcast on these witnesses.

 

[Twittens]

her sister was the other witness on wednesday.

Even if both of them had produced first class, unequivocal testimony, I would find that extremely odd and, as a prosecutor, would try to avoid putting them both on the stand unless I had very little else to offer the court.

As a juror, I think I would find myself wondering what on earth could have led them both to be in just the right place at the right time, in a vast expanse of national park, to see the same couple on different days, despite them being the subject of a nationwide manhunt and trying to evade attention.

jmoo

 

[bobbymkii]

Even if both of them had produced first class, unequivocal testimony, I would find that extremely odd and, as a prosecutor, would try to avoid putting them both on the stand unless I had very little else to offer the court.

As a juror, I think I would find myself wondering what on earth could have led them both to be in just the right place at the right time, in a vast expanse of national park, to see the same couple on different days, despite them being the subject of a nationwide manhunt and trying to evade attention.

jmoo

obviously, it is vital that the crown provide eyewitness evidence for this time period as this really is the point of the timeline where they allege that Victoria died as a result of their gross negligence.


and if this is the best they can find from their enquiries, it will just have to do

 

[Cardgame]

CCTV of Constance Marten buying supplies (Met Police)

Constance Marten and Mark Gordon are a British couple who were missing between 5 January 2023, when their car was found abandoned and on fire near Bolton, until 27 February 2023, when they were arrested in Brighton. They went missing with their newborn baby, who was believed to have been born a...

uk.news.yahoo.com

CCTV of the petrol buying.

 

[Nikynoo]

Even if both of them had produced first class, unequivocal testimony, I would find that extremely odd and, as a prosecutor, would try to avoid putting them both on the stand unless I had very little else to offer the court.

As a juror, I think I would find myself wondering what on earth could have led them both to be in just the right place at the right time, in a vast expanse of national park, to see the same couple on different days, despite them being the subject of a nationwide manhunt and trying to evade attention.

jmoo

Precisely.

 

[CaptainNancy]

Storms and rain are noisy. People generally keep their windows closed during the winter, during storms. What good hearing these witnesses must have.

 

[rightsaidfred]

I'm updating the previous timeline. Changes are bolded by me. Sources are as before, plus the new ones listed below

- 1974 - MG born in Birmingham, the youngest of 7 children, to mum Sylvia
- ~1985 - MG, 11, and family move to Hollywood, Florida
- 26th May 1987 - CM born, lives at Crichel Down, a stately home in Dorset. Her parents are Napier and Virginie Marten (nee Camu, later de Selliers)
- 1989 - MG convicted of rape, age 14
- 1996 - Napier Marten, CM's father, leaves the family, heads to Australia, and leaves behind his 'materialistic' life. He variously has an out-of-body experience with Aborigines, goes whale watching, lives in a lorry, works as a chef and trains in Indian head massage. Unknown when he returned to the UK, but it's 2013 at the latest.
- 2005 (presumed) - CM leaves school - St Mary's Shaftesbury
- 6-18 months in 2006-7 (dates unclear, reports vary) - CM joins TB Joshua's SCOAN cult in Nigeria, which is later linked to sex abuse. Friends report she's not the same afterwards.
- 2008 - CM starts studying Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Leeds
- Jan 2009 - CM listed as Tatler 'Babe of the Month'
- 2010 - MG released after 20 years and deported to UK
- 2010-11 - CM on a year abroad in Cairo, studying Arabic. She was, presumably, there when the Arab Spring / Egyptian Revolution happened in Cairo in Jan-Feb 2011. A friend, Noisette Tahoun, she met during this time, and stayed in touch with afterwards, later suggests she had a history of unhealthy relationships, referring to a relationship with a "vulgar" man, and that "when she falls in love she doesn't listen to anyone". It's unclear who or when this vulgar man was.
- 2012 - CM graduates from Leeds with a 2:1
- Aug 2012-June 2013 - CM works as a researcher for Al Jazeera in London, and pitches an idea for a documentary about TB Joshua
- 2013 - CM's childhood stately home at Crichel Down is sold. CM's father reported to be working as a tree surgeon, having passed the estate on early to his eldest son. At the time of CM's disappearance, he is reported to be a film and music producer.
- June-2013-14 - CM works in three short term jobs, two lasting less than a month and one lasting three months; appears to be out of work
- 2014 - CM does a NCTJ course in court reporting. I think this is possible a MOOC rather than anything terribly in depth.
- 2016 - CM leaves E15 Acting School and is listed as a graduate. It is unclear what year she started in - it could have been a second BA starting in 2013 (which would explain her work history) or an MA starting 2015.
- 2016 - CM and MG meet in unclear circumstances, but MG is reported to live near her and be working as a labourer. CM rapidly starts to cut off family and friends.
- June 2017 - CM pregnant, presents at a hospital in London, seeking antenatal care for the first time, says she's living in a campervan
- Sept 2017 - SS issues an alert because they can't locate her
- late 2017 - CM goes to a hospital in Wales in early labour, fake Irish accent, claims to be a traveller called Isabella O'Brien, and living in a campervan nearby. She says she lives in Leeds but is avoiding her family. MG pretends to be a friend, Mr Aymer, borrowing a surname from CM's sister-in-law.
- unspecified time later, it emerges they were living in a flimsy festival style tent with black bin bags and bottles of urine.
- Interim care order made, and CM and the first baby (FF) go into a mother and baby foster care placement. CM warned about the danger of falling asleep with baby on her. It's unclear if she leaves this foster placement with FF, or when GG is born.
- Jan 2020 - local authority starts care proceedings
- 4 Feb 2020 - CM posts a facebook album with three children entitled "my love sprogs", with different children labelled bty / cof / dav. IMO she posted that in the hope that it would make it easier for the children to find her on social media when they're older. Many of her facebook friends express surprise that she has any children at all. One of the comments suggests that a picture is taken in Ilford, East London.
- Some point between Jan and June 2020 - baby HH is born
- June 2020 - MG and CM refuse a placement in a residential unit, so an emergency care and separation order is made for all three children.
- Unknown date around this time - CM and MG are evicted from a property in Ilford.
- August 2020 - MG and CM are reported to be living on the Coldharbour Estate, Greenwich / Eltham, though it's unknown when they moved in. Neighbours report shouting, and the couple spending long periods of time elsewhere. NB: I believe the same property is variously referred to as being on the "Coldharbour Estate, Greenwich" and "in Eltham", though there is a possiblity there were two homes very close together.
- May 2021 - CM pregnant again with baby II, refuses entry to a social worker, SS arrange a scan, CM disappears and claims she's having private healthcare. Date of birth unclear, but she later leaves hospital without II, despite having been told that if she does that the baby will be recorded as abandoned. The next day she returns to the hospital but is upset to be refused entry because she wouldn't take a covid test. She tells SS that she and MG are 'naturalists' who disagree with any medical intervention.
- August 2021, CM's brother Max Marten marries Ruth Aymer, and the wedding is featured in Vogue. CM is nowhere to be seen due to the estrangement.
- 28 Jan 2022 - care and placement orders made for all four children (adopted, or SGO, presumably) at which point they will have known that they have lost all hope of getting those children back.
- March / April(?) 2022 CM pregnant again, conceals pregnancy
- August / September 2022 (sources differ) - MG and CM withdraw £15,000 cash, are evicted, and leave their property in Coldharbour Estate Greenwich / Eltham (they were evicted, but IMO: this coincides with when her bump started to show). They weren't paying rent, and left smoke damage and a collapsed ceiling behind them.
- September - December 2022 - live a nomadic lifestyle, staying in a series of Airbnbs
- 19 Dec 2022 - MG reports to a police station in Sheffield, presumably as part of his sex offender licence conditions.
- 20-26 Dec 2022 - CM & MG stay in holiday cottage in Northumberland
- 22 Dec - CM receives £15,590 from trust fund
- 24 Dec 2022 - CM claims Victoria was born, though this is disputed.
- 26 Dec 2022 - MG reports to a police station in Leeds
- 28 Dec 2022 - Car, a Peugeot 206, breaks down on M61 Greater Manchester (the podcast states this was a Suzuki in M18 Yorkshire). Recovery crew think they're living in the car but don't see a baby. Car towed to Leeds.
- 3 Jan 2023 - CM receives £3400 from a different trust fund
- 4 Jan 2023 - CM & MG check into hotel in Lymm, Cheshire and then later into a different hotel in Manchester
- 5 Jan 2023 - Peugeot 206 car catches fire on the M61 near J4 Bolton, around 6.30pm CM and MG depart leaving behind a passport, placenta, 30 'burner' phones, bible, clothes, 5 used nappies, and a cat in a box. The manhunt begins. Local man called Waiwai Balai gives them a lift to Bolton city centre. 20.02 spotted on CCTV at Bolton Bus Interchange. Take a taxi from Bolton to Liverpool, then a separate taxi from near Liverpool Royal Hospital to Harwich. Speculation is that, as both Liverpool and Harwich are ports, they are trying to leave the country but are hamstrung because MG doesn't have a passport and CM lost hers in the car fire.
- 6 Jan 2023 - CM and MG check in at 3am in Premier Inn Harwich. They move to the Fryatt hotel that night.
- 7 Jan 2023 - Check out of hotel in Harwich at 7am, then take a taxi to Colchester, then a taxi to East Ham, where they are seen 10.30-12.30. They take a taxi to Whitechapel Road, arriving at 6.15pm. Eat a meal at a restaurant on Brick Lane. Baby seen moving. MG buys a buggy at Argos, along with some camping gear. Try to get a taxi, fail, dump buggy, put baby in Lidl bag.
- 8 Jan 2023 - Shortly after midnight they ask taxi driver Abdirisakh Mohamud to take them to Tesco Extra Enfield. CM claims to be a Muslim using a hood and facemask as a hijab. MG claims to be doing the same because of a hair problem. The taxi driver becomes uneasy and drops the couple off prematurely on Green Lanes - presumably around the Green Lanes / Allison Road junction as they then catch another taxi, driven by Hasan Guzel, departing at 1.25am. During the journey, her phone pings and she asks to change the destination from Portsmouth to Newhaven. The baby is heard "meowing". They arrive at Newhaven at 4.56am. Seen sheltering from rain under an underpass around 6am. CM buys snacks at Texaco. 6.15am - seen walking towards fields with bag and tent.
- 9-11 Jan 2023 - CM claims baby died, changing her story during questioning.
- 12 Jan, early hours - CM purchases petrol and snacks from Texaco. She later claims this was because she considered cremating the baby.
- 19 Jan - Napier Marten issues appeal for CM to turn herself in
- 21 Jan - Karen Satchell, half sister of MG, goes to press saying he was wrongly convicted of rape
- 16 Jan 2023 - 11.45am Nicholas Frost, a dog walker sees tent and MG getting out of it at Stanmer Park Nature Reserve. It is not there a week later.
- 8 Feb - Virginie de Selliers, CM's mum and a psychotherapist, issues an appeal for her to come forward
- 16/17 Feb 2023 - seen near Hollingbury Golf Course with a buggy but no baby
- 17 Feb - tent seen Coldean Lane / Stanmer Park, Brighton (Coldean Lane runs through the park). Sighting in Stanmer Park around midday by witness Mary Thomsen.
- 18 Feb - sighting of CM and MG around Coldean Lane, with CM appearing to have something under her jacket
- 19 Feb - CM and MG seen in Stanmer Park with blue tent, and a 'floppy headed' baby with no clothes. The witness, Pauline Mason, states in court that the baby was so pale she believes it was already dead.
- 19 Feb - MG's mother Sylvia, who lives in Florida, goes to the papers saying he's a 'good boy', that he and CM had married in secret some time ago (no evidence of this is ever produced) and suggesting they could have been kidnapped.
- 20 Feb - CM and MG seen scavenging in bins around Hollingbury Golf Course
- 22 Feb - CM and MG attend Brighton Food Bank. They receive some food, but don't ask for baby items, which are available.
- 27 Feb 2023 - CM and MG go to Mulberry's Convenience Store and buy £20 worth of food in cash but no baby items. Shortly afterwards, they are arrested in Brighton, 9.35pm, smelling 'very unpleasant'. They refuse to tell police where the baby is.
- 1 March 2023 - Baby Victoria's remains found, so decomposed that the sex could not be identified visually and the post mortem could not identify a cause of death

Sources: as before, but the additional sources for the update are as follows

Constance & partner seen at food bank without baby days before arrest

Constance Marten: The missing aristocrat, her rapist partner and the family rift

Her upbringing had all the trappings of high society, so how did Constance Marten come to be on the run for weeks on end with a sex offender 13 years her senior? Tom Ough reports

www.independent.co.uk

Mum of sex offender missing with aristocrat claims they 'married in secret'

'He is a good boy so I don't know what this is all about.'

metro.co.uk

'That baby had died, it was dead' - witness at Constance Marten and Mark Gordon trial

A witness who believed she saw a couple who were on the run with their baby and living in a tent said their newborn was dead.

www.theargus.co.uk

TOM RAWSTORNE: Chance spotting of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon

TOM RAWSTORNE: The massive police hunt ended in the way it had begun - with two people, not three. From the beginning of the investigation, the welfare of the child was the main focus of police.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Ex-neighbour claims Mark Gordon broke into his Florida home

Gordon, a 48-year-old British man, has been missing in the UK for nearly two weeks with Constance Marten, 35, the daughter of Napier Marten.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Constance Marten and Mark Gordon trial: Taxi driver was 'suspicious' of on-the-run couple with baby

The pair spent hundreds of pounds on taxi journeys across England, including a three-hour trip from north London to East Sussex, in a bid to keep the infant, a court heard.

news.sky.com

Constance Marten: Taxi driver recalls 'uneasy feeling' about couple

EXCLUSIVE: Rapist on run with partner and baby is innocent says sister

Mark Gordon, who was convicted on four counts of sexual battery when he was just 14 after holding a neighbour hostage at knifepoint for four-and-a-half hours, spent 20 years in prison in the US.

www.dailymail.co.uk

‘Beyond painful’: Dad of runaway aristocrat pleads with daughter to turn herself in

Grandmother of baby missing with aristocrat and rapist sends letter

It is the first time that Constance Marten's mother has said anything publicly about her daughter's disappearance.

www.express.co.uk

https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/crime/aristocrat-and-partner-on-run-with-baby-plan-to-head-for-portsmouth-before-tot-dies-4499937

I'm updating my timeline again; not many additions this time but easier to keep track this way. New changes in bold.

- 1974 - MG born in Birmingham, the youngest of 7 children, to mum Sylvia
- ~1985 - MG, 11, and family move to Hollywood, Florida
- 26th May 1987 - CM born, lives at Crichel Down, a stately home in Dorset. Her parents are Napier and Virginie Marten (nee Camu, later de Selliers)
- 1989 - MG convicted of rape, age 14
- 1996 - Napier Marten, CM's father, leaves the family, heads to Australia, and leaves behind his 'materialistic' life. He variously has an out-of-body experience with Aborigines, goes whale watching, lives in a lorry, works as a chef and trains in Indian head massage. Unknown when he returned to the UK, but it's 2013 at the latest.
- 2005 (presumed) - CM leaves school - St Mary's Shaftesbury
- 6-18 months in 2006-7 (dates unclear, reports vary) - CM joins TB Joshua's SCOAN cult in Nigeria, which is later linked to sex abuse. Friends report she's not the same afterwards.
- 2008 - CM starts studying Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Leeds
- Jan 2009 - CM listed as Tatler 'Babe of the Month'
- 2010 - MG released after 20 years and deported to UK
- 2010-11 - CM on a year abroad in Cairo, studying Arabic. She was, presumably, there when the Arab Spring / Egyptian Revolution happened in Cairo in Jan-Feb 2011. A friend, Noisette Tahoun, she met during this time, and stayed in touch with afterwards, later suggests she had a history of unhealthy relationships, referring to a relationship with a "vulgar" man, and that "when she falls in love she doesn't listen to anyone". It's unclear who or when this vulgar man was.
- 2012 - CM graduates from Leeds with a 2:1
- Aug 2012-June 2013 - CM works as a researcher for Al Jazeera in London, and pitches an idea for a documentary about TB Joshua
- 2013 - CM's childhood stately home at Crichel Down is sold. CM's father reported to be working as a tree surgeon, having passed the estate on early to his eldest son. At the time of CM's disappearance, he is reported to be a film and music producer.
- June-2013-14 - CM works in three short term jobs, two lasting less than a month and one lasting three months; appears to be out of work
- 2014 - CM does a NCTJ course in court reporting. I think this is possible a MOOC rather than anything terribly in depth.
- 2016 - CM leaves E15 Acting School and is listed as a graduate. It is unclear what year she started in - it could have been a second BA starting in 2013 (which would explain her work history) or an MA starting 2015.
- 2016 - CM and MG meet in unclear circumstances, but MG is reported to live near her and be working as a labourer. CM rapidly starts to cut off family and friends.
- June 2017 - CM pregnant, presents at a hospital in London, seeking antenatal care for the first time, says she's living in a campervan
- Sept 2017 - SS issues an alert because they can't locate her
- late 2017 - CM goes to a hospital in Wales in early labour, fake Irish accent, claims to be a traveller called Isabella O'Brien, and living in a campervan nearby. She says she lives in Leeds but is avoiding her family. MG pretends to be a friend, Mr Aymer, borrowing a surname from CM's sister-in-law.
- unspecified time later, it emerges they were living in a flimsy festival style tent with black bin bags and bottles of urine.
- Interim care order made, and CM and the first baby (FF) go into a mother and baby foster care placement. CM warned about the danger of falling asleep with baby on her. It's unclear if she leaves this foster placement with FF, or when GG is born.
- Jan 2020 - local authority starts care proceedings
- 4 Feb 2020 - CM posts a facebook album with three children entitled "my love sprogs", with different children labelled bty / cof / dav. IMO she posted that in the hope that it would make it easier for the children to find her on social media when they're older. Many of her facebook friends express surprise that she has any children at all. One of the comments suggests that a picture is taken in Ilford, East London.
- Some point between Jan and June 2020 - baby HH is born
- June 2020 - MG and CM refuse a placement in a residential unit, so an emergency care and separation order is made for all three children.
- Unknown date around this time - CM and MG are evicted from a property in Ilford.
- August 2020 - MG and CM are reported to be living on the Coldharbour Estate, Greenwich / Eltham, though it's unknown when they moved in. Neighbours report shouting, and the couple spending long periods of time elsewhere. NB: I believe the same property is variously referred to as being on the "Coldharbour Estate, Greenwich" and "in Eltham", though there is a possiblity there were two homes very close together.
- May 2021 - CM pregnant again with baby II, refuses entry to a social worker, SS arrange a scan, CM disappears and claims she's having private healthcare. Date of birth unclear, but she later leaves hospital without II, despite having been told that if she does that the baby will be recorded as abandoned. The next day she returns to the hospital but is upset to be refused entry because she wouldn't take a covid test. She tells SS that she and MG are 'naturalists' who disagree with any medical intervention.
- August 2021, CM's brother Max Marten marries Ruth Aymer, and the wedding is featured in Vogue. CM is nowhere to be seen due to the estrangement.
- 28 Jan 2022 - care and placement orders made for all four children (adopted, or SGO, presumably) at which point they will have known that they have lost all hope of getting those children back.
- March / April(?) 2022 CM pregnant again, conceals pregnancy
- August / September 2022 (sources differ) - MG and CM withdraw £15,000 cash, are evicted, and leave their property in Coldharbour Estate Greenwich / Eltham (they were evicted, but IMO: this coincides with when her bump started to show). They weren't paying rent, and left smoke damage and a collapsed ceiling behind them.
- September - December 2022 - live a nomadic lifestyle, staying in a series of Airbnbs
- 19 Dec 2022 - MG reports to a police station in Sheffield, presumably as part of his sex offender licence conditions.
- 20-26 Dec 2022 - CM & MG stay in holiday cottage in Northumberland
- 22 Dec - CM receives £15,590 from trust fund
- 24 Dec 2022 - CM claims Victoria was born, though this is disputed.
- 26 Dec 2022 - MG reports to a police station in Leeds
- 28 Dec 2022 - Car, a Peugeot 206, breaks down on M61 Greater Manchester (the podcast states this was a Suzuki in M18 Yorkshire). Recovery crew think they're living in the car but don't see a baby. Car towed to Leeds.
- 3 Jan 2023 - CM receives £3400 from a different trust fund
- 4 Jan 2023 - CM & MG check into hotel in Lymm, Cheshire and then later into a different hotel in Manchester
- 5 Jan 2023 - Peugeot 206 car catches fire on the M61 near J4 Bolton, around 6.30pm CM and MG depart leaving behind a passport, placenta, 30 'burner' phones, bible, clothes, 5 used nappies, and a cat in a box. The manhunt begins. Local man called Waiwai Balai gives them a lift to Bolton city centre. 20.02 spotted on CCTV at Bolton Bus Interchange. Take a taxi from Bolton to Liverpool, then a separate taxi from near Liverpool Royal Hospital to Harwich. Speculation is that, as both Liverpool and Harwich are ports, they are trying to leave the country but are hamstrung because MG doesn't have a passport and CM lost hers in the car fire.
- 6 Jan 2023 - CM and MG check in at 3am in Premier Inn Harwich. After departing, staff notice a strong odour that they liken to rotting flesh. WS speculation: this was trench foot (MG was seen with bags over his shoes) or a post partum issue (infection?) from CM. They had had consistent access to bathrooms, so simply body odour is less likely. They move to the Fryatt Hotel that night.
- 7 Jan 2023 - Check out of Fryatt Hotel in Harwich at 7am, then take a taxi to Colchester, then a taxi to East Ham, where they are seen 10.30-12.30. They take a taxi to Whitechapel Road, arriving at 6.15pm. Eat a meal at a restaurant on Brick Lane. Baby seen moving. MG buys a buggy at Argos, along with some camping gear. Try to get a taxi, fail, dump buggy, put baby in Lidl bag.
- 8 Jan 2023 - Shortly after midnight they ask taxi driver Abdirisakh Mohamud to take them to Tesco Extra Enfield. CM claims to be a Muslim using a hood and facemask as a hijab. MG claims to be doing the same because of a hair problem. The taxi driver becomes uneasy and drops the couple off prematurely on Green Lanes - presumably around the Green Lanes / Allison Road junction as they then catch another taxi, driven by Hasan Guzel, departing at 1.25am. During the journey, her phone pings and she asks to change the destination from Portsmouth to Newhaven. The baby is heard "meowing". They arrive at Newhaven at 4.56am. Seen sheltering from rain under an underpass around 6am. CM buys snacks at Texaco. 6.15am - seen walking along Cantercrow Hill towards fields with bag and tent.
- 9-11 Jan 2023 - CM claims baby died, changing her story during questioning.
- 12 Jan, just after 6am - CM purchases petrol and snacks from Texaco. She later claims this was because she considered cremating the baby.
- 19 Jan - Napier Marten issues appeal for CM to turn herself in
- 21 Jan - Karen Satchell, half sister of MG, goes to press saying he was wrongly convicted of rape
- 16 Jan 2023 - 11.45am Nicholas Frost, a dog walker sees tent and MG getting out of it at Stanmer Park Nature Reserve. It is not there a week later.
- Unknown date between 16-27 January, 10.30-2.30 - witness Sarah Hidden states she saw CM and MG in Seaford, on the path between Cuckmere Haven and South Barn car park, with them emerging from the buses. She states she was woken by a baby crying on the preceding two nights, sleeping with the windows open despite a (loud??) winter storm. She believes the sound to have been coming from around Seaford Head golf course.
- 8 Feb - Virginie de Selliers, CM's mum and a psychotherapist, issues an appeal for her to come forward
- 16/17 Feb 2023 - seen near Hollingbury Golf Course with a buggy but no baby
- 17 Feb - tent seen Coldean Lane / Stanmer Park, Brighton (Coldean Lane runs through the park). Sighting in Stanmer Park around midday by witness Mary Thomsen.
- 18 Feb - sighting of CM and MG around Coldean Lane, with CM appearing to have something under her jacket
- 19 Feb - CM and MG seen in Stanmer Park with blue tent, and a 'floppy headed' baby with no clothes. The witness, Pauline Mason, states in court that the baby was so pale she believes it was already dead. Her husband Michael Mason stated they went back later to look for evidence in bins and hedgerows, such as nappies or discarded clothing. However, they did not report the sighting until 1st March. Mr Mason also disclosed that Pauline was convinced that she saw the 1986 Babes in the Wood murder victims. WS member consensus: Pauline is not a convincing witness.
- 19 Feb - MG's mother Sylvia, who lives in Florida, goes to the papers saying he's a 'good boy', that he and CM had married in secret some time ago (no evidence of this is ever produced) and suggesting they could have been kidnapped.
- 20 Feb - CM and MG seen scavenging in bins around Hollingbury Golf Course
- 22 Feb - CM and MG attend Brighton Food Bank. They receive some food, but don't ask for baby items, which are available.
- 27 Feb 2023 - CM and MG go to Mulberry's Convenience Store and buy £20 worth of food in cash but no baby items. Shortly afterwards, they are arrested in Brighton, 9.35pm, smelling 'very unpleasant'. They refuse to tell police where the baby is.
- 1 March 2023 - Baby Victoria's remains found, so decomposed that the sex could not be identified visually and the post mortem could not identify a cause of death

Sources: as before, but the additional sources for the update are as follows

Witness says Constance Marten looked 'scared' and 'weak' during sighting

A man said a Constance Marten looked “scared”, “pasty” and “weak” when he saw her in Harwich.

www.theargus.co.uk

Woman woken by 'constant, urgent' cries of baby on stormy night, court told

A woman who thought she saw on-the-run couple Constance Marten and Mark Garden on the South Downs said she was woken by a…

www.theargus.co.uk

 

[Cherwell]

Storms and rain are noisy. People generally keep their windows closed during the winter, during storms. What good hearing these witnesses must have.

She said she was sleeping with the window open. During a storm. How odd.

“I was sleeping with the window open ...... I thought it was a bit strange, it was a storm. I know people take babies out to get to sleep but don’t think they would do it in a storm."

 

[Skigh]

She said she was sleeping with the window open. During a storm. How odd.

“I was sleeping with the window open ...... I thought it was a bit strange, it was a storm. I know people take babies out to get to sleep but don’t think they would do it in a storm."

Quite!

 

[Obergine]

Note 'wedding' rings on CM's left hand. Her hands looked so swollen with cold False nails grown out too. Looked like another burner phone in the basket.

 

[Cardgame]

She said she was sleeping with the window open. During a storm. How odd.

“I was sleeping with the window open ...... I thought it was a bit strange, it was a storm. I know people take babies out to get to sleep but don’t think they would do it in a storm."

If it was a thunderstorm I might open the window to hear the thunder.

Not sure if it's a thunder storm or a windy storm.

 

[Skigh]

If it was a thunderstorm I might open the window to hear the thunder.

Not sure if it's a thunder storm or a windy storm.

The report said wind and rain. It was also freezing cold. I might open the window in a summer thunder storm,but not in the middle of a freezing cold night with icy rain beating on the window.