Jurors have seen dramatic video of the moment fugitive aristocrat Constance Marten was arrested in the street and asked repeatedly: “Where is your child?”
Constance Marten, 36, and Mark Gordon, 49, had allegedly been living with their newborn baby off grid in a tent on the South Downs while on the run from police.
Last February 27, police finally tracked them down to the Hollingbury area of Brighton after they were spotted by a member of the public.
They declined to say where baby Victoria was and on March 1, her body was found in a Lidl supermarket bag covered in rubbish in a disused shed.
Police Sergeant Robert Button was among the officers who arrested the defendants at 9.35pm last February 27.
Giving evidence, Mr Button said Marten appeared to be wearing “furniture stuffing” for insulation and smelled “unclean and unwashed”.
He said both she and Gordon had a distinctive odour that he associated with homeless people.
The officer’s body-worn video showed the moment they were arrested on suspicion of child neglect.
Mr Button approached Gordon and said: “Hello. Sorry mate, can you stop for a second? Stop alright, I need to speak to you.”
Asked what about, Mr Button said: “Well because potentially I think you may have been in the national news.”
When Gordon denied it, he was asked why he was running away and ordered repeatedly to put the stick he was carrying down.
As the defendant resisted, he was told: “Relax yourself, you are under arrest until I confirm who you are.”
Gordon complained he was hungry and he “wasn’t doing anything”.
A distressed Marten then intervened saying: “Stop with him please, he’s not well.”
She went on: “Oh my god, I can’t watch. Leave him alone. Let him eat his food. He’s starving.”
Another officer later turned to Marten and said: “I’ll level with you, you are under arrest for child neglect.”
