A mother born into an aristocratic family in England will spend 14 years in prison after her newborn’s death. A court found Constance Marten, 38, and her boyfriend, 51-year-old Mark Gordon, guilty of manslaughter in July. A judge found the couple responsible for the death of their daughter, Victoria, from hypothermia. The court had little pity on the parents of five.
Police first began looking for Marten and Gordon after finding evidence of a birth in a burnt-out car near Bolton, according to the BBC. Eventually, they found Victoria’s remains in a shopping bag in Brighton. Prosecutors claimed the pair went on the run to avoid dealing with social services. They’d already lost custody of their other four children before the infant’s death.
This was the couple’s second trial. In the first, a jury found Marten and Gordon guilty of concealing the baby’s birth and child cruelty, but did not reach a verdict on the manslaughter charge. But this time, the court found the pair guilty, and Judge Mark Lucraft KC told them, “neither of you gave much thought to the care or welfare of your baby.” He added that neither the mother nor father had much “remorse” after losing Victoria.
Victoria died while her parents lived in a tent, with Marten testifying that the newborn died in a tragic accident when she fell asleep holding her. Experts deemed that wasn’t the case, saying the baby died from exposure to the elements and hypothermia, the BBC reported. The couple reportedly did their best to manipulate the court proceedings by claiming illness and fatigue on trial days, but it didn’t help their case.
Marten’s barrister, Tom Godfrey, told the court during the argument that his client mourned the death of her daughter. “The sorrow that Constance Marten feels is incalculable,” he said, per the BBC. “She has, ever since an early stage, accepted that her baby died as a result of something she did. That fact weighs very heavily on her conscience and will do so for the rest of her life.”
The judge didn’t seem to agree and, according to the BBC, at one point said he “never had that sort of attitude” like what he saw in Marten.
Marten has appealed her conviction. It is unclear when she will appear in court next.
