The parents of a baby found dead in Brighton after a police manhunt spent two months on the run, a jury was told.
Tom Little, prosecuting, set out a series of events leading to the arrest of Mark Gordon and Constance Marten in Brighton at the end of February last year.
He told the jury at the Central Criminal Court, better known as the Old Bailey, in London, that the pair concealed Marten’s pregnancy and the birth of baby Victoria.
Mr Little said yesterday (Thursday 25 January) that the couple travelled across England in cars and taxis, with the newborn baby tucked underneath Marten’s coat and later kept in a Lidl bag for life.
By the time they had been found, their newborn baby had lived a brief life and died while they were on the run in freezing winter conditions.
Marten, 36, and Gordon, 49, are on trial for manslaughter by gross negligence – a charge that they deny. They face four related charges.
…
Here is a timeline of events leading up to the defendants’ arrest.
Tuesday 20 December 2022
Gordon and Marten booked into a holiday cottage in Northumberland after making an online booking until Monday 26 December. The property owners found the cottage left in a “disgusting state” on Wednesday 28 December, jurors were told.
Wednesday 28 December
The defendants’ Suzuki car broke down on the M18 motorway between junctions 5 and 6. A recovery driver took them to a nearby Sainsbury’s supermarket. Gordon initially asked to be taken to Thorne, in South Yorkshire. No baby is seen or heard by the recovery driver.
Wednesday 4 January 2023
The couple moved across the Pennines and checked into the Ibis hotel at the Lymm Services, in Cheshire, in the early hours of the morning. Later the same day, they also checked into the AC Hotel in Manchester.
Thursday 5 January
A Peugeot 206 car being used by the defendants caught fire on the M61 motorway in Greater Manchester, causing them to flee. Marten’s passport, “burner” phones and a placenta wrapped in a towel were discarded in the wreckage, jurors were told.
A high-risk missing persons inquiry started and the couple became front-page news, the court was told. The defendants were picked up by a member of the public and taken to a Morrisons store, in Bolton, where they arrived just before 8pm.
From the nearby Bolton interchange station, the defendants took a taxi to Liverpool before they instructed another taxi to drive them around 270 miles to Harwich in Essex.
Friday 6 January
The couple arrived in Harwich in the early hours of the morning and checked into a Premier Inn hotel at about 3am. In the evening, they moved to another hotel in town, the Fryatt Hotel, where they paid in cash.
Saturday 7 January
The defendants checked out of the Fryatt Hotel just before 7am and took a taxi to Colchester. Another taxi was taken later that morning from Colchester to High Street North, in East Ham, east London.
Gordon and Marten visited an Argos store where they bought a buggy, before they took a taxi from East Ham to Whitehchapel. They ate that evening in a restaurant in Brick Lane.
The defendants dumped the buggy they had bought earlier that day, the court was told. It is alleged that the baby was transferred to a Lidl bag for life where she spent much of the rest of her life.
Sunday 8 January
The defendants travelled by taxi to north London and arrived just after midnight, before they spent £475 on a taxi from Hornsey to Newhaven. They arrived in Newhaven just before 5am and walked into the South Downs National Park.
Marten entered a Texaco petrol station and bought snacks and petrol with cash. There was no sign of the baby.
Monday 16 January
A dog walker saw the defendants’ tent set up in Stanmer Park Nature Reserve in the South Downs. Gordon was seen getting out of a tent and carrying a bag-for-life. The tent was not in the same position a week later.
In the same month, they were also seen on a rural path near the Seven Sisters cliffs.
Thursday 16 and Friday 17 February
Another dog walker saw the defendants near Hollingbury Golf Course. They were pushing a buggy but the witness did not see a baby.
Friday 17 February
A witness noticed the defendants’ tent set up in Coldean Lane, Brighton.
Saturday 18 February
A driver noticed the defendants together in the area of Coldean Lane, walking towards Stanmer Park. Marten appeared to have something under her Puffa jacket.
Sunday 19 February
Gordon and Marten were seen in Stanmer Park with their blue tent. Marten was carrying a very young baby with a wobbly head but the baby had no socks on, no blanket and no hat.
Monday 20 February
The defendants were captured on CCTV trying and failing to break in to Hollingbury Golf Course and were “scavenging for food from the bins”, jurors were told.
Monday 27 February
Marten and Gordon smelled “very unpleasant” as they were arrested in Hollingbury Place, Brighton, jurors were told. They were carrying furniture stuffing and paper in their clothing for extra warmth.
