Aristocrat Constance Marten and partner Mark Gordon facing trial accused of killing baby after 54-day police search
A RUNAWAY aristocrat and her lover are facing trial accused of killing their baby after a desperate 54-day police search.
Constance Marten, 35, and Mark Gordon, 48, were charged after little Victoria was found dead inside a locked shed on an allotment.
The couple sparked a frantic nationwide hunt after placenta was found in a burning car on the M61 in Bolton on January 5.
They were detained in Brighton, East Sussex, on February 27 following a tip-off with the baby’s remains discovered two days later.
Marten and Gordon greeted each other affectionately and chatted when they appeared at the Old Bailey today.
They are charged with gross negligence manslaughter, concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice.
No pleas were entered but a provisional trial date was set for January next year.
Marten and Gordon were remanded in custody to next appear in court on August 18.
The couple named their baby Victoria before her tragic death.
She was found wrapped in a plastic bag and covered with nappies in a shed at the overgrown allotment near where Marten and Gordon were arrested.
The baby was allegedly killed sometime between January 8 and February 27, it is said.
A post mortem carried out earlier this month was unable to establish a cause of death with further tests being carried out.