US EditionConstance Marten and Mark Gordon found guilty of manslaughter of their newborn baby
SOUTHERN ENGLAND, JUL 14 – Constance Marten and Mark Gordon were convicted for neglect leading to their newborn's death after evading authorities and living off-grid in freezing conditions, prosecutors said.
- On July 14, 2025, a jury at the Old Bailey unanimously found 38-year-old Constance Marten and her 51-year-old partner Mark Gordon guilty of manslaughter in connection with the fatal outcome of their infant daughter Victoria in England.
- The conviction came after a retrial, following their initial 2024 trial which resulted in guilty verdicts for interfering with the course of justice, hiding the birth, and child abuse; notably, Gordon’s history of violence was only partially disclosed during the retrial.
- Marten gave birth secretly on Christmas Eve 2022 in a hired cottage, then the couple fled with Victoria, evading authorities for seven weeks while travelling across England and living off-grid in a tent on the South Downs where Victoria died.
- Police found Victoria’s badly decomposed body wrapped in a pink sheet inside a Lidl bag in a disused shed near Bolton on January 5, 2023, with the cause of death undetermined but possibly hypothermia or smothering in cold tent conditions.
- Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford stated the defendants’ actions caused Victoria’s death, which was avoidable, highlighting missed opportunities to seek help and confirming that justice has been served.
115 Articles
115 Articles
Their little daughter disappeared without a trace and they fled the country. Constance Marten has ties to the British royal family, Mark Gordon grew up in American prisons. In Britain, people are horrified by the scandalous couple's dark secret - and now the verdict has been handed down.
A runaway British aristocrat and convicted rapist were found guilty over their baby’s death. Here’s how their story unfolded
Constance Marten and Mark Gordon were found guilty of manslaughter after their newborn daughter, Victoria, was found dead in a grocery bag inside a disused shed. A nationwide search for the couple and ensuing court cases gripped Britain, not least because of Marten’s privileged background and Gordon’s violent criminal past.
As a child, Constance Marten, 38, was friends with Prince Harry and Prince William. But her life was about to take a dark turn. Now she has been convicted – after her child was found dead in a Lidl bag. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to move on from this,” she says, in police questioning, according to the BBC.
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