Constance Marten faces retrial as jurors fail to reach verdict on whether aristocrat & lover killed baby while on run
A RUNAWAY aristocrat and her lover are facing a retrial after jurors failed to reach verdicts on whether they killed their baby.
Constance Marten, 37, and partner Mark Gordon, 50, evaded cops for 54 days with baby Victoria after allegedly hiding her birth.
The pair went “off-grid” as they feared the baby would be taken away from them, it was said.
Victoria, who spent “much of her life” in a Lidl bag for life, was later discovered dead inside an abandoned shed like she was “refuse”.
The jury, who were sent out on April 30, were today unable to reach verdicts after more than 72 hours deliberation.
This means Marten and Gordon may now face a retrial.
The pair were accused of manslaughter by gross negligence, concealment of the birth of a child, cruelty to a person under 16 and perverting the course of justice.
They also denied causing or allowing the death of a child, an alternative charge to manslaughter, between 4 January and 27 February last year.
Jurors heard a 54-day hunt was launched for the pair after their burning car was discovered on the M61 motorway in Greater Manchester on January 5.
Officers allegedly found placenta wrapped in a towel, “new baby” nappies and newborn clothing, as well as “burner phones”.
A missing person‘s enquiry was launched, which became “bigger and bigger news” as time went on.
The couple travelled across England – including spending £400 on a taxi from Liverpool to Essex using “wealthy” Marten’s trust fund.
Marten, whose family lived at Dorset estate Crichel House, received nearly £19,000 in payments into her account from the trust while on the run, jurors heard.
Her father was a page to the late Queen, while her grandmother was a goddaughter to the Queen Mother.
Despite her connections, the couple allegedly chose to “deprive the baby of what she needed”.
Police finally tracked the couple down to 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.
Marten and Gordon denied manslaughter by gross negligence, concealment of the birth of a child, cruelty to a person under 16 and perverting the course of justice.
They also denied causing or allowing the death of a child, an alternative charge to manslaughter, between 4 January and 27 February last year.