Aristocrat Constance Marten said that her family saw her as an “embarrassment” and “will stop at nothing to get what they want” as she was cross-examined by her partner Mark Gordon.
Gordon asked her questions because he is now conducting his own defence at the Central Criminal Court, better known as the Old Bailey, in London, yesterday (Thursday 8 May).
He asked Marten whether she recalled vehicles randomly stopping during the time they were together.
Marten told jurors that they were pursued by private investigators, several vehicles that they used had stopped working and she found a tracker on one in what she said was a game of “cat and mouse”.
She said: “There’s a few people in my biological family who see me as an embarrassment and are scared I will speak out about them and will stop at nothing to get what they want.”
She added: “Some people who are privileged think they are above the rules. It is harrowing, you are up against these people who will stop at nothing, who have endless resources and connections.”
The defendant also said that a member of her family “doesn’t want me alive” after she spoke out against them, the jury was told.
Marten, 37, and her partner Gordon, 50, deny the gross negligence manslaughter of their daughter Victoria and causing or allowing her death between Wednesday 4 January and Monday 27 February 2023.
The couple were trying to prevent their fifth child from being taken from them amid a high-profile police hunt for the missing baby.
Marten claimed that her other children were “stolen by the state”, the Old Bailey was told previously.
Marten comes from a wealthy family with whom she “never really had a strong connection” and eventually became estranged from, the jury was told.
She said yesterday that her family were prejudiced towards Gordon and did not approve of their relationship.
Marten said that she was living in fear and that her “number one priority” was to protect Victoria.
She told jurors that she has found Victoria’s death “very difficult to live with” but that it “wasn’t due to neglect in any way”.
It is alleged that Victoria was inadequately clothed in a babygrow and that Marten had got wet as she carried the baby underneath her coat.
The prosecution said that Victoria died from hypothermia or was smothered while co-sleeping in a “flimsy” tent on the South Downs, despite previous warnings about living in a tent with a baby.
Marten said that the baby died after she fell asleep over her. She said that she “blacked out” and was “flopped forward” with her head on the floor.
And she told jurors that the tent was intended to be a “pit stop” to avoid “prying eyes”.
She wept as she said that she would “turn back time” if she knew Victoria was in danger, adding that they “spent so long trying to protect her”.
The baby’s body was found along with rubbish inside a Lidl “bag for life” in a disused shed on allotments in the Hollingdean area of Brighton after the defendants were arrested on Monday 27 February 2023.
Joel Smith, prosecuting, asked her yesterday if it was a “despicable thing” to do to with her body.
Marten objected to his line of questioning, saying that Mr Smith was “diabolical” and a “heartless human being”.
She said that they were in a “very difficult position” after Victoria’s death and were “terrified and grief-stricken”.
Jurors have been told that the defendants were convicted at an earlier trial of concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice.
The trial continues.
What is happening to the 4 other children? Why bring another child into the world if unable to look after them. Awful to think of a tiny baby in those freezing conditions. Surely this couple must have realised how dangerous it was. Irresponsible doesn’t describe their actions. Grow up and deal with your family relationship before another tragedy happens. Who is paying for this never ending trial!
They were taken into care.
Life the two scumbags off,