Constance Marten and Mark Gordon were convicted of perverting justice and concealing a child’s birth
During their January trial, after legal limits were lifted, resulting in guilty verdicts.. The media covered the proceedings.
Last Monday, the jury was excused for failing to decide several charges. Both pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The couple may face a retrial in March 2025.
The initial jury returned two guilty verdicts in May before being dismissed.
In January 2023, police launched a high-profile manhunt for Mark Gordon, 50, and Constance Marten, 37, after finding indications of a recent birth in a wrecked car near Bolton
The expecting parents were found in Brighton on February 27, but their unborn child was not.
Two days later, Victoria, their infant, was found deceased in a shopping bag in an allotment near Brighton’s Hollingbury district.
It was supposed to start on January 25, but a fire at the Old Bailey delayed it. Since the case ran late, Easter and half-term holidays prompted extra delays.
The jury heard that Victoria was born while the couple was evading social services. The family court had seized four of their children.
The couple was staying in hotels and cottages when their car caught fire on the M62 near Bolton shortly after the baby was delivered. After leaving the car with all their belongings, they took a nighttime cab to
Upcoming Retrial in 2025
After being recognized, they learned about the police manhunt and bought a £40 tent from an east London Argos.
Near Newhaven on the South Downs, CCTV footage showed the pair walking 2.5 days after the fire.
The postmortem examination was unable to determine the cause of death, but the prosecution said the infant died in the weeks after the January camping trip, possibly from exposure.
In her many days of testimony, Constance Marten told the jury that she had not put Victoria in danger and had slept off while holding the baby on the second day of camping and woke up to find the body.
The couple carried their lifeless kid for weeks, even to Brighton Beach, she said.
Holidays slowed jury deliberations. Finally, on May 30, they found the couple guilty of perverting justice and concealing their child’s birth.
On June 19, it was clear they couldn’t decide on the remaining charges—manslaughter by gross negligence and child death.
Defendants should remain in detention until London’s recorder, His Honor Judge Mark Lucraft KC, indicated today at the Old Bailey that the prosecution will seek a retrial in March 2025. BBC NEWS
