Fugitive aristocrat Constance Marten and partner guilty of concealing birth of a child but face manslaughter retrial
26 June 2024, 12:05 | Updated: 26 June 2024, 13:30
Aristocrat Constance Marten and her partner Mark Gordon have been found guilty at the Old Bailey of concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Marten, 37, and Gordon, 50, began their trial at the Old Bailey in January after their daughter Victoria was found dead on an allotment in Brighton last March.
They went off-grid and on the run for nearly eight weeks last year, sparking a high-profile police search for the missing baby.
The hunt culminated in the couple's arrests in Brighton last February, with the child found days afterwards.
The couple denied five charges against them and went on trial on January 25 2024.
The pair denied all counts and went on trial at the Old Bailey on January 25. Jurors began deliberating on April 30.
The jury could not reach a verdict on the manslaughter charge, and the pair will face a retrial next March.
Jurors were dismissed on 19th June 2024 after more than 70 hours of deliberating.
We can now report, however, that they reached a guilty verdict for two of the charges: Concealing the birth of a child; and perverting the course of justice.
Police spent nearly two months searching for the family, who had gone on the run across England, after their car was found on fire near Bolton on 5th January 2023.
Marten – a daughter of the late Queen’s former page, Napier Marten – and Mark Gordon were arrested in Brighton on 27th February 2023.
Their newborn child’s body was found inside a disused allotment shed two days later.
After the conviction on Wednesday, Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford of the Met police said his officers would now be preparing for the manslaughter retrial.
"Our focus has always been, and remains, securing justice for baby Victoria," he added.
