In a high-profile case unfolding at the Old Bailey, Constance Marten, 36, and Mark Gordon, 49, both of London, stand accused of serious charges surrounding the demise of their newborn child, identified as Victoria. The pair have vehemently denied all allegations, including manslaughter, upon entering pleas of not guilty.
The infant girl’s lifeless body was tragically discovered on the first of March, secreted away in a garden shed in Brighton—an unsettling discovery made in the aftermath of an intensive police manhunt for her family.
The couple have also refuted four additional charges that have been levied against them: these include accusations of child cruelty, concealment of Victoria’s birth, the subsequent allowance of, or direct causation of, her untimely death, as well as charges of perverting the course of justice by sequestering the body.
During the reading of the charges, Mr. Gordon resolutely and loudly declared himself to be ‘not guilty’. Ms. Marten echoed his defiance, asserting that she was “Definitely not guilty” in response to the manslaughter charge, and “absolutely not guilty” to the accusations of cruelty to a child and either causing or permitting the death of an infant.
Post the initial proceedings, the duo was remanded to prison, pending their next case hearing scheduled for the 8th of December. The eminent Judge Mark Lucraft KC has earmarked the 2nd of January as the commencement date for the trial.
Earlier in the year, an extensive investigation was undertaken involving hundreds of law enforcement officers utilizing sniffer dogs, unmanned aerial vehicles, and heat-detecting cameras. The extensive quest which covered numerous wooded areas in East Sussex finally led to the discovery of Victoria’s corpse, heartbreakingly stowed away in a disposable bag. The tragic find was located at a community gardening site in the Hollingbury sector of Brighton—a location in sore proximity to the arrest site of Marten and Gordon.
