UK - Constance Marten & Mark Gordon charged, Newborn (found deceased), Bolton Greater Manchester, 5 Jan 2023 #6

[Alyce]

So today we start with CM's Defence. I'll eat my hat if she takes the stand! I suspect her KC will have managed to find more experts than MGs though. JMO

I think your hat will be safe InstantCoffee

 

[Obergine]

I hope the hat is tasty.. Updates as Constance Marten to give evidence in baby death trial

 

[InstantCoffee]

OMG - just seen this on the Live feed! Guess I know what's for lunch today then!!!! My flabber is ghasted!

Constance Marten to give evidence​

Constance Marten has been called to the stand and will give evidence in the case.

This is the first time we will hear from Marten outside of her police interviews which were read by the prosecution.

Mark Gordon did not give evidence on the stand.

 

[DianaWW]

She is answering questions....are they going to expand on that

Constance Marten sworn in​

Marten is in the dock.

She is answering questions from her barrister Francis Fitzgibbon is asking her questions.

Recap after Constance Marten gives evidence in trial

Updates from the Old Bailey as the trial of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon continues

www.theargus.co.uk

 

[rockthecasbah]

OMG - just seen this on the Live feed! Guess I know what's for lunch today then!!!! My flabber is ghasted!

Constance Marten to give evidence​

Constance Marten has been called to the stand and will give evidence in the case.

This is the first time we will hear from Marten outside of her police interviews which were read by the prosecution.

Mark Gordon did not give evidence on the stand.

Question is, will the Argus tell us much about it?

 

[DianaWW]

Question is, will the Argus tell us much about it?

Nope!

 

[InstantCoffee]

11:18am

'I did nothing but show baby Victoria love' says Marten​

Marten has begun giving evidence.
Mr Fitzgibbon asked: "Did you do anything to harm baby Victoria?"
Ms Marten said: "Absolutely not.
"I did nothing btu show her love."

 

[Alyce]

OMG - just seen this on the Live feed! Guess I know what's for lunch today then!!!! My flabber is ghasted!

Constance Marten to give evidence​

Constance Marten has been called to the stand and will give evidence in the case.

This is the first time we will hear from Marten outside of her police interviews which were read by the prosecution.

Mark Gordon did not give evidence on the stand.

Looks like I'm buying you a new hat then @InstantCoffee


although I still expect amnesia to kick in once the Prosecution questions her

 

[Alyce]

The Telegraph are doing a blog

11:23AM

‘I did nothing but show her love’, says Constance Marten​

Constance Marten began answering questions from her defence counsel, Francis FitzGibbon KC about the death of her child.
He asked: “Did you do anything to harm Baby Victoria?”
She replied: “No”
He went on: “Did you anything cruel to her?”
She replied: “No I did nothing but show her love.”
Ms Marten told the court that she had not allowed her to get too cold or too hot and told the jury she believed her daughter had died around January 9 2023.


11:34AM

Upbringing in wealthy family​

Miss Marten told the jury she had grown up in a wealthy family and had benefited from a private education.
She explained she went on to Leeds university where she studied Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies.
While there she received a fixed penalty notice for shoplifting a t-shirt.
Miss Marten said it was a “silly prank” but other than that she had had no previous convictions.


11:35AM

‘Travelling is my passion’, says Marten​

Miss Marten explained that she had been in receipt of a private income, but she said it was a “discretionary fund” that she could not access as she pleased.
“I am not allowed to just access it. They will give me money if it is potentially for work or for a house, they wouldn’t just give me money,” she explained.
She said after university she had worked as a researcher for the Al Jazeera news channel and had also worked as a nanny and as a photographer.
Miss Marten also said she had been “very blessed” to travel extensively, visiting India, Nepal, Uganda and South America.
“Travelling is my passion,” she said.

Access Restricted

 

[rockthecasbah]

The Telegraph are doing a blog

11:23AM

‘I did nothing but show her love’, says Constance Marten​

Constance Marten began answering questions from her defence counsel, Francis FitzGibbon KC about the death of her child.
He asked: “Did you do anything to harm Baby Victoria?”
She replied: “No”
He went on: “Did you anything cruel to her?”
She replied: “No I did nothing but show her love.”
Ms Marten told the court that she had not allowed her to get too cold or too hot and told the jury she believed her daughter had died around January 9 2023.


11:34AM

Upbringing in wealthy family​

Miss Marten told the jury she had grown up in a wealthy family and had benefited from a private education.
She explained she went on to Leeds university where she studied Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies.
While there she received a fixed penalty notice for shoplifting a t-shirt.
Miss Marten said it was a “silly prank” but other than that she had had no previous convictions.


11:35AM

‘Travelling is my passion’, says Marten​

Miss Marten explained that she had been in receipt of a private income, but she said it was a “discretionary fund” that she could not access as she pleased.
“I am not allowed to just access it. They will give me money if it is potentially for work or for a house, they wouldn’t just give me money,” she explained.
She said after university she had worked as a researcher for the Al Jazeera news channel and had also worked as a nanny and as a photographer.
Miss Marten also said she had been “very blessed” to travel extensively, visiting India, Nepal, Uganda and South America.
“Travelling is my passion,” she said.





Constance Marten giving evidence in manslaughter trial

She hasn't a clue how to care for children. I hope she did not do any harm to those she nannied for.

 

[Alyce]

11:44AM

Married Mark Gordon in Peru​

Miss Marten told the jury that she had met Mark Gordon in around 2014 in a shop in London and had begun chatting.
“We were good friends at the start and then we went travelling together,” she said.
Miss Marten told the jury she and Mr Gordon had gone travelling together to Peru in around 2016.
“We got married over there but it is not recognised over here. It is a Peru wedding ceremony that is not legally binding,” she explained.

Access Restricted

 

[InstantCoffee]

Thanks for this @Alyce... the Argus reporting is woeful!

 

[Alyce]

Thanks for this @Alyce... the Argus reporting is woeful!

I'm surprised no one else is blogging - hopefully we'll get some good write ups later

 

[DavidAT]

She is answering questions....are they going to expand on that

Constance Marten sworn in​

Marten is in the dock.

She is answering questions from her barrister Francis Fitzgibbon is asking her questions.

Recap after Constance Marten gives evidence in trial

Updates from the Old Bailey as the trial of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon continues

www.theargus.co.uk

"She's standing behind a wooden rail having a conversation with a chap in a wig, while another chap in a wig sitting higher up seems to be writing things down."

Sorry for the attempt at humour, but I am torn between being grateful to the Argus for having reported live what the national press haven't, and wanting to lampoon their court reporter for seemingly not knowing the difference between the dock and the witness box, an error that has been made in the Argus at least twice now.

I just hope we have some good reporting of the closing speeches and the judge's summing up.

 

[Alyce]

11:51AM

Constance Marten tells of ‘long history of issues’​

Mr FitzGibbon asked Miss Marten if she had had an unconventional way of life.
She replied: “I wanted a conventional life but I have great difficulty with my wider family so it is not a choice, I would prefer to have a conventional way of life.”
Miss Marten said she had not introduced Mr Gordon to her family. She had cut them out of her life around two years before the couple had met.
“We have had a long history of issues,” she told the court. “When I met him I made the decision that I would have nothing more to do with them.”
Her mother Virginie de Selliers was in court as her daughter gave evidence.

Access Restricted

 

[Alyce]

From the link above

her family. She had cut them out of her life around two years before the couple had met.


So not blaming MG for the family rift then ? If she's been estranged since 2012

 

[DavidAT]

The Telegraph are doing a blog

11:23AM

‘I did nothing but show her love’, says Constance Marten​

Constance Marten began answering questions from her defence counsel, Francis FitzGibbon KC about the death of her child.
He asked: “Did you do anything to harm Baby Victoria?”
She replied: “No”
He went on: “Did you anything cruel to her?”
She replied: “No I did nothing but show her love.”
Ms Marten told the court that she had not allowed her to get too cold or too hot and told the jury she believed her daughter had died around January 9 2023.


11:34AM

Upbringing in wealthy family​

Miss Marten told the jury she had grown up in a wealthy family and had benefited from a private education.
She explained she went on to Leeds university where she studied Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies.
While there she received a fixed penalty notice for shoplifting a t-shirt.
Miss Marten said it was a “silly prank” but other than that she had had no previous convictions.


11:35AM

‘Travelling is my passion’, says Marten​

Miss Marten explained that she had been in receipt of a private income, but she said it was a “discretionary fund” that she could not access as she pleased.
“I am not allowed to just access it. They will give me money if it is potentially for work or for a house, they wouldn’t just give me money,” she explained.
She said after university she had worked as a researcher for the Al Jazeera news channel and had also worked as a nanny and as a photographer.
Miss Marten also said she had been “very blessed” to travel extensively, visiting India, Nepal, Uganda and South America.
“Travelling is my passion,” she said.

Access Restricted

A fixed penalty notice for shoplifting, then. Even though this is not a conviction, does it stop a witness from being called a person of good character?

 

[Alyce]

From The Argus blog

Marten in tears in the dock​

Marten began to cry in the dock when asked if she had ever done anything to harm her four previous children.


"Absolutely not, and that is the sad thing.


"I love our kids more than anything else and I am pretty angry that they are having to go through this."


Mr Fitzgibbon said: "At the start of this trial it was said that you put your own interests above your children's?"


Marten said: "No. there is literally nothing I wouldn’t do for my children."

Recap after Constance Marten gives evidence in trial

Updates from the Old Bailey as the trial of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon continues

www.theargus.co.uk

BBM - again, it's never her fault

 

[DavidAT]

11:51AM

Constance Marten tells of ‘long history of issues’​

Mr FitzGibbon asked Miss Marten if she had had an unconventional way of life.
She replied: “I wanted a conventional life but I have great difficulty with my wider family so it is not a choice, I would prefer to have a conventional way of life.”
Miss Marten said she had not introduced Mr Gordon to her family. She had cut them out of her life around two years before the couple had met.
“We have had a long history of issues,” she told the court. “When I met him I made the decision that I would have nothing more to do with them.”
Her mother Virginie de Selliers was in court as her daughter gave evidence.

Access Restricted

Just a guess, but I doubt she likes her mother being there at all. I hope her mother makes no loud comments during proceedings this time.

 

[Alyce]

11:57AM

Constance Marten felt ‘guilty’ when baby died​

Constance Marten told jurors she did not expose her baby to cold or allow her to get too hot so far as she was aware.
Mr FitzGibbon said: “So far as you are concerned, did you give her anything less than the proper care you thought she deserved?”
Marten replied: “I gave her the best that any mother would, yeah.”
She told jurors Victoria died last January 9, saying: “I do not think it is anything I will ever move on from.”
She said she felt “guilty”, adding: “I think initially it was disbelief, shock, intense grief.”

Access Restricted