Constance Marten cross-examined through spouse Mark Gordon over child demise

Constance Marten has closely criticised her rich “biological family” in an strange cross-examination performed through her spouse and fellow defendant Mark Gordon right through their retrial on the Old Bailey.

She accused her circle of relatives of prejudice, and hiring non-public detectives to practice her.

Gordon, who isn’t legally educated, was once ready to cross-examine his spouse after filing his inquiries to the pass judgement on and receiving approval. He is now not the usage of barristers within the trial and is as an alternative representing himself.

Marten, 37, and Gordon, 50, each deny manslaughter through gross negligence over the demise in their kid, Victoria, whose frame was once present in a Brighton shed in March 2023.

They additionally deny inflicting or permitting the demise of a kid. The couple have 4 different youngsters who’ve been got rid of through social products and services.

They have been in the past discovered to blame of concealing Victoria’s start and perverting the process justice through now not reporting her demise, however the jury may now not come to a verdict at the exceptional fees. A retrial started in March.

Under wondering through Gordon in courtroom on Thursday, Marten described how “all hell broke loose” along with her circle of relatives when she returned from Peru pregnant along with her first kid in 2017.

She stated she had turn into “very fearful” after their automotive “exploded” in January 2023. She stated 15 earlier automobiles had additionally malfunctioned in mysterious cases, and that that they had discovered a GPS tracker on no less than one in every of them.

She additionally discussed an unnamed circle of relatives member who she felt “doesn’t want me alive” after Marten had spoken out about them previously.

The jury heard that the couple have been dwelling in a tent in Wales sooner than the start of Victoria. The couple’s different youngsters have been got rid of from them through then.

“The only reason we ended up in Wales was because of this person who I am convinced was behind the explosion of the car,” Marten stated.

She stated her circle of relatives had employed two companies of personal detectives and it had felt “like a cat and mouse game”.

Some of her kinfolk noticed her as a humiliation, she advised the courtroom, including that “some people from privilege think they are above the rules”.

“You are up against these people who will stop at nothing, and have endless resources and connections, and I don’t think I can get away from them.”

She stated her circle of relatives agree with had additionally advised her that “if you have still got that black boyfriend with you, you are never going to get a property”.

She additionally stated that she and Gordon had “received a huge amount of prejudice from people, especially from my family”.

Marten stated the police manhunt that started after their automotive stuck hearth following Victoria’s start intended that folks began recognising them, so that they made up our minds to head and sleep in a tent at the South Downs.

“It was just a pitstop for a few days to get away from prying eyes,” she stated.

In reaction to Gordon asking if she supposed to motive the infant hurt, Marten responded: “No, of course not.”

When requested if the infant was once at all times a concern, she stated “absolutely” and that was once why that they had sought after to stay her for longer versus having her even be taken away.

“She was a big baby. Healthy. Strong,” she stated.

Prosecutors have alleged Victoria died from hypothermia or was once smothered whilst co-sleeping within the tent. They have argued that the child was once inadequately clothed and that Marten were given rainy whilst sporting the infant beneath her coat.

Marten has advised the jury Victoria died within the tent after a few days, after she fell asleep over her.

In reaction to Gordon’s questions in this, she stated: “I just blacked out. I flopped forward with my forehead on the floor. I guess that could have happened anywhere.”

Gordon requested: “Was it clear from the position of the baby that the baby in relation to yourself had been asphyxiated?”

She responded pronouncing: “That was my assumption because of the position I woke up in.

“I do not understand how she died however that was once my assumption.”

In the weeks following the death, she said the couple went on sleeping in the tent, moving around every few days. They carried their dead daughter’s body with them in a Lidl bag.