GUILTY UK - Constance Marten & Mark Gordon charged in death of baby Victoria, Guilty on counts 1 & 5, 2025 retrial on manslaughter, 5 Jan 2023 #8

[Alyce]

Constance Marten’s boyfriend will not give evidence – Court News UK

 

[CaptainNancy]

CM was unable to give evidence today because of tooth ache
Constance Marten's evidence at baby manslaughter trial delayed by toothache

 

[Alyce]

www.thelawpages.com



Full schedule for today

 

[Alyce]

From Nancy's post 842 above ......

Gordon called an expert to give evidence on the state of a placenta which was found in the couple’s car when they abandoned it on the side of a motorway during the early stages of being on the run.
His defence case lasted less than an hour.




Re adding the link for clarity........

Constance Marten's evidence at baby manslaughter trial delayed by toothache

Her partner Mark Gordon has chosen not to give evidence at his manslaughter trial

www.standard.co.uk

 

[Carriep]

From Nancy's post 842 above ......

Gordon called an expert to give evidence on the state of a placenta which was found in the couple’s car when they abandoned it on the side of a motorway during the early stages of being on the run.
His defence case lasted less than an hour.




Re adding the link for clarity........

Constance Marten's evidence at baby manslaughter trial delayed by toothache

Her partner Mark Gordon has chosen not to give evidence at his manslaughter trial

www.standard.co.uk

What was the defence point regarding the state of the placenta? Was the witness cross-examined?

Edit: there's more info here (cited to Ellie Ng, Press Association):

Delay to Constance Marten evidence after complaints of headache and toothache

Marten and Mark Gordon are accused of the manslaughter of their baby Victoria.

www.aol.co.uk

"Jurors heard evidence from consultant in paediatric and perinatal pathology, Dr Srinivas Rao Annavarapu, who was asked to estimate when baby Victoria was born based on the placenta that was found in the defendants’ car on January 5 2023.

The consultant said he believes it is more likely the baby was closer to two to three weeks old rather than one to two days old at the time the placenta was found, based on its condition."

What did the prosecution evidence say about the "age" of the placenta?

 

[CaptainNancy]

From Christmas Eve, when I think CM &MG said the baby was born, until Jan 5th is 13 days, so yes, closer to 2 weeks old.

Not sure where this takes anyone.

 

[choc drop]

What I don't understand is if they were planning an escape abroad why on earth didn't they do this BEFORE the baby was born like months before.

There has been little to no joined up thinking with this pair they seem to inhabit an alternative reality to most of the rest of us.

This was due to the fact that a family member had attempted to make Constance a ward of court and allegedly prevented her travelling abroad. Also Gordon had had his passport seized as part of his parole/so(?) conditions, I believe.

I think this is the link referring to the previous trial UK - Constance Marten & Mark Gordon charged, Newborn (found deceased), Bolton Greater Manchester, 5 Jan 2023 #7

It was very unclear though as to whether this had actually happened, but it was what Constance claimed or thought had happened.

 

[Alyce]

today's update .....




www.thelawpages.com

 

[CaptainNancy]

This was due to the fact that a family member had attempted to make Constance a ward of court and allegedly prevented her travelling abroad. Also Gordon had had his passport seized as part of his parole/so(?) conditions, I believe.

I think this is the link referring to the previous trial UK - Constance Marten & Mark Gordon charged, Newborn (found deceased), Bolton Greater Manchester, 5 Jan 2023 #7

It was very unclear though as to whether this had actually happened, but it was what Constance claimed or thought had happened.

today's update .....




www.thelawpages.com


View attachment 581109

So adjourned again, all day?

 

[Yellowbelly]

So adjourned again, all day?

Surely the Prison Service can get her an emergency dental appointment!

 

[dotr]

Curious about an unimportant detail, but if that full head of hair as seen in the court pic. below, is CM's own hair, wondering why she traveled with a wig?(Assuming the wig belonged to CM and not MG?) speculation, imo.
April 22 2025

Delay to Constance Marten evidence after headache and toothache complaints

There has been a delay to Constance Marten giving evidence in her trial over the death of her baby girl after she complained of suffering from a…

www.theargus.co.uk

''Addressing jurors before dismissing them for the day, Judge Lucraft said: “I’m sure you can understand, those people who might have had toothache, there is probably nothing worse than toothache.”

Earlier on Tuesday, the court heard Gordon would not be giving evidence.

John Femi-Ola KC, defending, said: “I do not propose to call Mr Gordon.”

Jurors heard evidence from consultant in paediatric and perinatal pathology, Dr Srinivas Rao Annavarapu, who was asked to estimate when baby Victoria was born based on the placenta that was found in the defendants’ car on January 5, 2023.

The consultant said he believes it is more likely the baby was closer to two to three weeks old rather than one to two days old at the time the placenta was found, based on its condition.''

Constance Marten trial resumes without defendants as court told of abandoned cat

Marten and Mark Gordon are accused of the manslaughter of a baby who died after they went off grid and slept in a tent in early 2023.

www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk

Hats, gloves and a wig with tape attached were among items found in Amblecote Playing Field and near the burnt-out Peugeot 206 on the side of the M61 (Met Police/PA

 

[Cardgame]

Curious about an unimportant detail, but if that full head of hair as seen in the court pic. below, is CM's own hair, wondering why she traveled with a wig?(Assuming the wig belonged to CM and not MG?) speculation, imo.
April 22 2025

Delay to Constance Marten evidence after headache and toothache complaints

There has been a delay to Constance Marten giving evidence in her trial over the death of her baby girl after she complained of suffering from a…

www.theargus.co.uk

View attachment 581134
''Addressing jurors before dismissing them for the day, Judge Lucraft said: “I’m sure you can understand, those people who might have had toothache, there is probably nothing worse than toothache.”

Earlier on Tuesday, the court heard Gordon would not be giving evidence.

John Femi-Ola KC, defending, said: “I do not propose to call Mr Gordon.”

Jurors heard evidence from consultant in paediatric and perinatal pathology, Dr Srinivas Rao Annavarapu, who was asked to estimate when baby Victoria was born based on the placenta that was found in the defendants’ car on January 5, 2023.

The consultant said he believes it is more likely the baby was closer to two to three weeks old rather than one to two days old at the time the placenta was found, based on its condition.''

Constance Marten trial resumes without defendants as court told of abandoned cat

Marten and Mark Gordon are accused of the manslaughter of a baby who died after they went off grid and slept in a tent in early 2023.

www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk

View attachment 581135
Hats, gloves and a wig with tape attached were among items found in Amblecote Playing Field and near the burnt-out Peugeot 206 on the side of the M61 (Met Police/PA

Interesting question re. Wig

Especially as it is only partial, and appears to be similar to CM's own hair colour, so wouldn't have functioned as a disguise.

Also, what would that (gaffa?) tape attach to?

Not a head. Not hair.

ETA looking at the other items in that photo, I'm wondering if it was taped to the underside of a baseball cap, to give the impression of short, curly reddish hair. In which case, yes, perhaps it functioned as a disguise. No one needs that many hats, otherwise, surely.

 

[Nikynoo]

Curious about an unimportant detail, but if that full head of hair as seen in the court pic. below, is CM's own hair, wondering why she traveled with a wig?(Assuming the wig belonged to CM and not MG?) speculation, imo.
April 22 2025

Delay to Constance Marten evidence after headache and toothache complaints

There has been a delay to Constance Marten giving evidence in her trial over the death of her baby girl after she complained of suffering from a…

www.theargus.co.uk

View attachment 581134
''Addressing jurors before dismissing them for the day, Judge Lucraft said: “I’m sure you can understand, those people who might have had toothache, there is probably nothing worse than toothache.”

Earlier on Tuesday, the court heard Gordon would not be giving evidence.

John Femi-Ola KC, defending, said: “I do not propose to call Mr Gordon.”

Jurors heard evidence from consultant in paediatric and perinatal pathology, Dr Srinivas Rao Annavarapu, who was asked to estimate when baby Victoria was born based on the placenta that was found in the defendants’ car on January 5, 2023.

The consultant said he believes it is more likely the baby was closer to two to three weeks old rather than one to two days old at the time the placenta was found, based on its condition.''

Constance Marten trial resumes without defendants as court told of abandoned cat

Marten and Mark Gordon are accused of the manslaughter of a baby who died after they went off grid and slept in a tent in early 2023.

www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk

View attachment 581135
Hats, gloves and a wig with tape attached were among items found in Amblecote Playing Field and near the burnt-out Peugeot 206 on the side of the M61 (Met Police/PA

is it not a pony tail extension kinda thing?

 

[Cardgame]

is it not a pony tail extension kinda thing?

Not usually with gaffa tape. It would get caught in your real hair.

 

[iamshadow21]

Not usually with gaffa tape. It would get caught in your real hair.

Yeah, they're usually attached by a hair tie or some kind of slide or clip. Nobody uses tape.

MOO

 

[CaptainNancy]

V interesting q about the hair.

To create a dummy fake CM in the car to get through CCTV or throw the investigators they alleged were after them off the scent? Somehow.

Maybe they did disguise MG while driving as it seems possible he had no driving licence.

 

[jackal67]

V interesting q about the hair.

To create a dummy fake CM in the car to get through CCTV or throw the investigators they alleged were after them off the scent? Somehow.

Maybe they did disguise MG while driving as it seems possible he had no driving licence.

Maybe MG wore it and dressed as a woman??

 

[Carriep]

Re MG and driving:

"After the couple were evicted from their London home in August 2022, she told the jury that they spent the next few months in houses and hotels booked using the website booking.com.
Then, after Victoria was born - which she says was Christmas Eve 2022 - they started paying cash for accommodation.
Ms Marten said she was worried that they would be found.
"We have found tracking devices under all of our cars," she claimed.
She said it was suspicious that their cars kept breaking down. Ms Marten explained to jurors that she was always the one who was driving.
"Mark doesn't drive, doesn't know how to drive. I have tried to teach him", she added."

That is from here:

Constance Marten planned to smuggle baby abroad, court told

She said a family member obtained a "travel ban" against her after speaking out about serious abuse.

www.bbc.co.uk

"A breakdown recovery driver who collected them after a previous car – a Suzuki Ignis – broke down on the M18 on 28 December, noted it looked like they had been living out of the vehicle which was stuffed with clothes.

“I remember this couple clearly as it was one of the weirdest pick-ups I have ever had. They both had bad attitudes even though I was there to help them,” he said in a statement read to the court by prosecutor Mr Little. The breakdown worker did not see or hear a baby at any point."

That bit is from here:

Baby would still be alive ‘if I stayed with car’, van driver tells jury

The couple’s negligence was ‘truly, exceptionally bad’ after the child died after weeks living in inhuman conditions, the Old Bailey heard

www.independent.co.uk

What does this mean, a "bad attitude"? I don't know what else was in the written statement, and perhaps the recovery driver explained what he meant by this, but if a witness gave that kind of testimony in court and counsel didn't ask for more, I would expect the judge to step in and ask for more.

 

[Alyce]

CM in the witness box



www.thelawpages.com

 

[Carriep]

Runaway aristocrat Constance Marten claims children 'stolen by the state'

Aristocrat accused of manslaughter told the Old Bailey she did ‘everything to protect’ her baby daughter

www.standard.co.uk

"Marten and Gordon say they went “off grid” after Victoria was born to stop her being taken into care, in the same way that their other four children had been taken away.

Marten, beginning her evidence to the manslaughter trial, branded her family “bigoted”, said they never accepted her relationship with Gordon, and claimed they “were the ones who instigated my children being taken away”.

Talking of the adoption of her first two children, she said: “I love them extremely. Not being with them is very very hard.”

She said: “They are never allowed to know about me unless the adoptive parents tell them. Their names are changed, I am not allowed to speak to them.

“I think it’s an absolute outrage. They are never caused harm, they have always been loved and well-catered for, so the decision was an outrage.”

Marten then said “when my children were stolen by the state…”, but her statement was interrupted by Judge Mark Lucraft KC, the Recorder of London, who said he needed to “caution you against answering in the way you have just done, as there are consequences that may follow if you do.”

...

Marten told jurors her family had hired private investigators to tail them, and she did not want her relatives to discover that she had given birth to another child.

Facing a jury question about whether she reported the attention of private investigators to police, Marten replied: “The police are not going to help. Mark and I have had issues.

“A lot of Private Investigators are former police and pretty much former police. I didn’t think they were going to help.”

She went on to claim that several of their cars had been tampered with in the past, causing them to break down.

The court has heard how Marten and Gordon’s car broke down on the motorway in the early days of them going on the run.

Marten said she had paid for a hotel with a credit card the night before that incident, and she was left “a bit scared” by the connection she drew.

“I felt this had happened purposefully”, she said. “So I wanted to lose the trail of people following us.

“I paid with a credit card in the hotel the night before the car shut down. It’s happened so many times to our cars, the same thing – it blacks out on the motorway, stopping working.

“I’m pretty convinced there are a few people behind it.”

A second car the couple were in caught fire on the side of the M61 on January 5, 2023, forcing them to abandon many of their possessions and leave behind a placenta wrapped in a towel. "