A RUNAWAY aristocrat and her lover have been found guilty over the death of her baby after the newborn died while they evaded police.
Constance Marten, 37, and Mark Gordon, 50, with baby Victoria after their four previous children were taken into care.
The tragic tot died while living in a tent in the South Downs with hardly any clothes or “means of keeping or remaining warm”;.
Victoria, who spent “much of her life”; in abag for life, was later discovered dead inside an abandoned shed.
Marten and Gordon have now been convicted of gross negligence manslaughter following a retrial.
The pair were previously found guilty of concealing their daughter’s birth and perverting the course of justice at an earlier trial.
A 54-day hunt was launched for the pair after their burning car was discovered on the M61 motorway in Greater on January 5.
Officers found placenta wrapped in a towel, “new baby”; nappies and newborn clothing, as well as “burner phones”;.
A missing person‘s enquiry was launched as the couple travelled across the UK with CCTV piecing together their movements.
Jurors heard the pair “essentially went off-grid”; and lived in a tent with “hardly any clothes or means of keeping or remaining warm or dry and with scarcely any food”;.
Prosecutor Tom Little KC said the case involved a “young baby girl who undoubtedly would still be alive if it was not for the reckless and ultimately grossly negligent conduct of the two defendants in the dock”;.
He continued: “They were the parents of that young baby girl, but they put their relationship and their views of life before the life of that little baby girl.
“Rather than act in the obvious best interest of a vulnerable baby, because allbabiesare vulnerable when they are but some days old, they decided as they had often done before that they knew best, they knew better than anyone else.
“They decided to ignore the advice they had previously been given and decide that in the middle ofwinterand in obviously dangerous conditions they would deprive their baby of what she needed – warmth, shelter protection, food and ultimately one word – safety.”;
Theheard Marten and Gordon had five babies in seven years, with four removed and taken into care.
They gave birth to the fifth baby at the centre of the trial without seeking any medical assistance in early 2022 and kept her “their little secret”;.
During the trial, it was revealed that Gordon was convicted of a series of sexual offences – including rape – while living in the US.
Gordon, who was 14 at the time, broke into the house of a next door neighbour wearing a nylon stocking over his face and armed with a knife and hedge clippers.
He demanded the woman undress and attempted to rape her before carrying out the vile offences in the April 1989 horror.
On May 21 the same year, Gordon broke into another home with a shovel and battered a man inside.
The fiend was sentenced in the US to 40 years in , of which he served 22 years.
Jurors heard that Marten came from a “very wealthy family”; and had a trust fund so she could have bought whatever she needed.
Her father was a page to the late Queen, while her grandmother was a goddaughter toMother.
Despite her connections, the couple deprived Victoria of her basic needs until her “entirely avoidable”; death.
As temperatures plummeted, Marten and Gordon decided to camp in “obviously dangerous conditions”; with “totally insufficient and inadequate clothing and equipment for the baby”;.
After the baby died, the couple continued to sleep rough and scavenge in bins for food while carrying the body in the same Lidl bag.
Policefinally tracked the couple downto Brighton on February 27 but they refused to answer where the newborn was.
Tragically, Victoria was already lying dead in the bag for life – hidden under nappies and rubbish.
The prosecution argued the couple’s actions – by exposing their baby to extreme cold in a tent – were grossly negligent and Victoria could have died from hypothermia or been smothered and suffocated.
Gordon and Marten will be sentenced at a later date.
