The prosecution has resumed its opening of the case against a runaway couple charged with manslaughter by gross negligence after their baby was found dead in Brighton.
Tom Little, prosecuting, continued to set out the case against Constance Marten, 36, and Mark Gordon, 49, at the Central Criminal Court – better known as the Old Bailey – in London.
The pair are being tried by a jury for the manslaughter of their daughter Victoria, which they deny, and for four other offences.
Once in Newhaven, early in a cold January, Mr Little said: “They go out in the early hours of the morning and into the wild with nothing but a flimsy tent and a few bags.
“The weather was cold, windy and damp. This was the last place that the defendants should have been, you may think, with such a young baby. The risks and dangers were obvious.
“What happened in the next few days is not clear. But it seems likely that the defendants did not eat much, if anything.”
Mr Little said that Marten went into a Texaco petrol station on the morning of Thursday 12 January last year. He said: “She purchased snacks but nothing that you would give to a baby.
“You will hear detailed evidence during the trial about the weather conditions on the South Downs in January and February 2023.
“There were many days when it was freezing cold, windy and wet. You will not be surprised to know, because it is obvious, as it was to the defendants, that a newborn baby is at an extremely high risk of dying when exposed to cold weather conditions in a tent during winter.
“An expert has looked at the weather data with the temperatures close to freezing. Newborn babies have a limited capacity to maintain their body temperature when left in such freezing conditions.
“They lose their body heat rapidly, especially if the body is not well covered. Their head is particularly prone to lose a lot of body heat rapidly due a relatively large surface area of the head as compared to rest of the body.
“Anybody who has had a baby knows that and these two defendants had had four babies before.”
As well as in Newhaven, the couple or their tent were seen in Stanmer Park, in the Seven Sisters Country Park and later at Hollingbury Gold Course.
Living rough and moving around in these conditions “made it treacherously difficult to care for themselves, let alone a newborn baby”, Mr Little said.
By mid-February they were spotted in Coldean Lane, walking towards Stanmer Park, the jury was told.
Mr Little said: “On (Sunday) 19 February 2023 the defendants were seen in Stanmer Park. (Marten) was carrying a very young baby with a wobbly head. The baby had no socks on, no blanket and no hat on.
“This, understandably you may think, shocked the witness, who formed the view that ‘the baby must have been very cold as the weather was freezing’.
“The same witness also noticed the defendants’ blue tent, set up in the park, and observed, ‘you have to be brave sleeping in a tent overnight in this weather’.
“That you may think was the understatement of the century. It was not brave, it was utterly stupid, reckless and obviously dangerous.
“Those who saw the defendants and the baby saw just snapshots and are concerned, given the weather conditions.
“However, they are unaware that they had been living in these treacherously dangerous conditions not just for an hour or hours or a day or even days but weeks.”
Mr Little told the jury that, on Monday 20 February, the defendants were captured on security camera footage at Hollingbury Golf Course.
He said: “They were carrying a ‘bag for life’. The baby cannot be seen in the footage. Again, you will need to ask yourself if the baby was in the bag for life.
“The defendants tried but failed to gain entry to the golf club by forcing the door.
“They then searched through the bins in the car park and placed items in the bag for life. They then left together, carrying the bag for life.
“On the evening of (Monday) 27 February, the defendants were seen in Hollingbury Place, in the Brighton area.
“(Gordon) was carrying a stick and his foot was wrapped in a plastic bag. (Marten) attempted to steal items before withdrawing cash from a cashpoint, revealing that she had monies available to her but was trying to avoid detection by stealing.
“As you will become aware by now, the baby was dead as a result of the actions and inactions of the parents and, in particular, the cruel weather conditions and lack of food and warmth that the defendants had exposed her to without heat, sufficient clothing and food and also without any medical assistance.
“(Gordon) entered a convenience store and purchased food. They walked together into nearby Stanmer Villas and into Golf Drive.
“By this point they had been identified as the subjects of the high-profile national missing persons investigations and so the police were called.
“The police attended Golf Drive and the defendants were seen together. (Gordon) attempted to walk away but was stopped.
“They were arrested at 9:35pm on suspicion of child neglect. At this point of course the police did not know what had happened to the baby but what was clear was that the defendants did not have the baby with them.
“Both defendants smelt very unpleasant as if they had not washed in several weeks. Well, they had not.
“(Marten) was wearing several layers of clothing and placed between those layers was what appeared to be furniture stuffing. (Gordon) had paper in the lining of his jacket for extra warmth.
“It is worth noting at this stage that he would later request the use of a wheelchair, claiming his legs were in pain, and his hands swollen.
“It is plain we say that the defendants had been living in conditions for weeks in which they were unable to provide adequate care for themselves – let alone their baby child – and that that had plainly been the position for some time.
“The dangers of rough sleeping for those who are homeless are well known. The wet and the cold and the inability to stay warm and dry in winter are dangerous.”
On Wednesday 1 March, Mr Little said, “following an extensive search of the countryside surrounding the area where the defendants had been arrested, the body of the baby was found in a locked, disused shed.
“The body was found wrapped in a plastic bag, underneath rubbish in that red Lidl bag for life.
“Also found in the shed was the defendants’ blue tent. The sleeping bags were not present. It is instructive to note the lack of clothing for the baby to have kept her warm.
“There was no ability to wash clothing either. Again, that tells you everything you need to know about the neglect of this young baby girl.”
The jury will be asked to decide whether they were guilty of causing the death of a baby who lived and died in a “bag for life”.
The trial continues.
I don’t actually understand, why did they do this? They chose to be homeless with a baby when they had money? Why did they run away from up north???…