A British aristocrat and her boyfriend fled with their newborn to avoid care and then left her to die in freezing conditions by leaving her in a Lidl shopping bag, a court was told on Thursday.
Constance Marten, 36, and Mark Gordon, 49, sparked a national manhunt when their car was found abandoned and set on fire in the Manchester area on January 5, 2023, the BBC said.
The couple, whose four eldest children had already been cared for, allegedly fled to avoid their new baby, Victoria, also being taken, prosecutor Tom Little told the Old Bailey at the opening of the trial on Thursday.
Marten, whose grandmother was the late Queen Mother’s goddaughter, according to The Sun, was arrested with her boyfriend on February 27 in Brighton, about 200 miles from where her burned-out car was found.
Less than two days later, baby Victoria’s remains were discovered in a shopping bag covered in rubbish, “as if it were rubbish”, the court was told, according to the BBC.
During their 55 days free, the couple camped outdoors and subjected their baby to “freezing and obviously dangerous conditions” while “essentially off the grid,” the prosecutor said.
Constance Marten, 36, is the daughter of a wealthy British family. Facebook/Constanza Marten
They even carried Victoria in a reusable “Lidl bag for life” where it appears she spent much of her life before she died,” Little added of the baby.
“It would have been clear to the defendants… this was a completely inappropriate way to care for any child… and remember at all times in this case the time of year and weather conditions,” he continued.
“It was this extremely negligent and obviously dangerous conduct that caused your daughter’s death,” Little insisted.
“A child who would still be alive if it were not for the reckless, absolutely selfish, callous, cruel, arrogant and ultimately extremely negligent conduct of these two defendants, who were the parents of that child,” he lamented.
Although officials do not know exactly when Victoria was born, they estimate Marten gave birth around December 28, 2022, the court heard.
The court heard how the couple spent more than a month on the run last year. Julia Quenzler / SWNS
The couple did not seek medical attention before, during or after childbirth.
The placenta was even found wrapped in a towel inside her burning car, Little said.
“Instead of acting in the obvious best interests of a vulnerable baby who they should have cared for and cared for, they decided they knew better,” she told the court.
Both Marten and Gordon are charged with manslaughter by gross negligence, as well as perverting the course of justice by concealing a body, concealing the birth of a child, child cruelty and permitting the death of a child, the Standard reported.
Mark Gordon was present on the bench. Julia Quenzler / SWNS
Both have denied all charges.
Marten was not present at the opening of the trial on Thursday, but Gordon was sitting in the dock, the BBC noted.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn