The partner of wealthy aristocrat Constance Marten assaulted two female police officers at a maternity ward hours after she had given birth, a court has heard.
Marten, 38, and Mark Gordon, 50, are charged with the manslaughter of their baby daughter Victoria who died in a tent on the South Downs in early 2023.
On Tuesday, the court heard about a “strange” incident involving the couple in Wales hours after Marten had given birth to an older sibling six years before.
Gordon had pleaded guilty to assaulting Pc Sian Beynon and Detective Sergeant Delma Jones during the course of their duties in 2017.
Giving evidence, Det Sgt Jones said they had gone to the hospital after a baby was born in the morning and medical staff raised concerns over the identity of the parents.
She asked the father several times for his name and date of birth before he gave the identity of James Amer who was born on April 31 1987.
The officer said: “I asked him to confirm his date of birth and he replied yeah. At this time I realised there are only 30 days in April.
“He started rocking backwards and forwards in a chair and acted confused muttering under his breath several times.
“I explained I wanted to do some checks on him. He then shouted out.
“He then shot up from his seat. He starts pacing backwards and forwards. He was clenching his fists and his behaviour completely changed.
“My colleague Pc Beynon was standing by the door. He walked up to her and pushed her to one side.”
Having already assaulted Pc Beynon, the officers tried to restrain him and stop him from making good his “escape”, the court heard.
“Mr Gordon had opened the door. He managed to free himself from our grip. He started running up to where his partner and baby was,” Det Sgt Jones said.
Gordon then went back into the corridor and tried to grab her again, causing her to fall to the floor, she told jurors.
“We were telling him to calm down, to comply. Obviously we had concerns over where we were – there were babies and other people around. We were concerned what he was capable of.”
Det Sgt Jones said her colleague then deployed her Pava incapacitant spray at least twice.
