Two costly trials beset by painstaking delays, a defendant representing himself who cross examined his own partner from inside the dock, and the Old Bailey’s most senior judge launching accusations of sabotage – the trials of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon were like no other.
The case was already an extraordinary one before it even reached the courtroom: an aristocrat who went on the run and and started camping “off-grid” with her rapist partner and their baby in winter 2023 to stop the infant from being taken into care like their other children.
A high-profile police search for the trio followed, culminating in the shocking discovery of baby Victoria’s remains buried underneath rubbish in a shopping bag in an abandoned Brighton shed.
But it has taken another two-and-a-half years for the couple to be brought to justice – a long, chaotic, painful legal odyssey, fraught with tension, disputes and delay – with the pair finally found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter of their fifth child on Monday.
The trials of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon were like no other (AP)
The trials of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon were like no other (AP)
The fact that a verdict has even been reached could be described as miraculous, let alone on all charges. The couple – unwaveringly devoted to one another and fiercely united in the face of years behind bars – had an extreme distrust of authorities, which put them on a collision course in the courtroom. They were repeatedly told off for speaking in the dock and passing notes as they appeared determined to string out their trials for as long as possible.
The first trial, which began in January 2024, endured a string of frustrating delays, and ended up lasting six months rather than the scheduled two before it collapsed. The parents were last year found guilty of child cruelty, perverting the course of justice by concealing the body and concealing the birth of a child, but the jury was discharged after they could not reach a verdict on the manslaughter charge.
Nine months later, in March this year, the six-month retrial began. It was plagued with yet more disruption and again dramatically overran, while frequently appearing to be teetering on the edge of collapse.
CCTV footage showed Constance Marten and Mark Gordon with baby Victoria in East Ham on 7 January 2023 (PA Media)
CCTV footage showed Constance Marten and Mark Gordon with baby Victoria in East Ham on 7 January 2023 (PA Media)
When Marten blurted out to the jury details of Gordon’s violent rape conviction, the prosecution later questioned whether the slip was an attempt to deliberately sabotage the proceedings.
Even the presiding judge, Mark Lucraft KC, at one point claimed the defendants were trying to “sabotage” or “derail” the proceedings. At another stage, a clearly exasperated Judge Lucraft, who sits as the Recorder of London, told Marten: “I have sat as a full time judge now for thirteen years and I have never had that sort of attitude shown to me by anybody.” He added that two teenagers who had been in his dock earlier that day were “rather better behaved – and they pleaded guilty to murder”. When Marten refused to see the Crown psychiatrist, he said: “My patience with her has been tried many, many times.”
Days of court time was lost as Marten complained of toothache and fatigue from her three-hour journey from the Surrey prison where she was held. But when the judge arranged for her to see a dentist, she refused treatment.
Body-worn camera footage of the moment Constance Marten was arrested in the street (PA Media)
Body-worn camera footage of the moment Constance Marten was arrested in the street (PA Media)
Both parents gave evidence in their own defence but refused to be cross-examined by the prosecution, with Marten branding the crown’s Joel Smith KC as “diabolical” and “heartless” as he asked her whether leaving Victoria’s body in a bag filled with rubbish was a “despicable thing” to do. Following the tense exchange, she refused to return to the witness box.
By the time the jury retired to consider their verdict, both Marten and Gordon had dispensed with their lead barristers. Marten, who has been through a string of top silks during the past two years, opted to allow her junior counsel to continue on her behalf, while Gordon insisted he would represent himself for the second half of his retrial, despite having received in excess of £70,000 worth of legal aid in the first trial.
The bizarre turn of events saw him cross examine his wife and co-defendant, reading a list of questions into a microphone from inside the dock.
It triggered yet more delays as he argued for extra time to prepare at every turn, before he told the jury they had been “dehumanised” and “vilified” in his closing speech.
The Lidl bag in which baby Victoria was found (Metropolitan Police)
The Lidl bag in which baby Victoria was found (Metropolitan Police)
The tactic dramatically backfired when he painted a positive picture of his upbringing, leading the prosecution to successfully apply to introduce so-called “bad character” evidence against him, resulting in the jury learning the full details of his conviction for rape as a teenager in the US, for which he was jailed for two decades.
Gordon never even gave evidence at the first trial, changing his mind to do so without explanation. However, Marten was in the dock over many days.
Despite beginning her testimony with a request for a toilet break, her evidence became the centrepiece of the first trial, her account at times both plausible and heart-rending, on the one hand, and quite fantastic and delusional on the other.
Speaking of Marten, in the second trial, the prosecution said that “lies fall from her mouth, we suggest, and have always done, like confetti floating in the wind”.
They accused the couple of “picking and choosing what questions to answer” as they told the jury baby Victoria “never stood a chance”.
Marten and Gordon will be sentenced on a date to be set.