Aristocrat Constance Marten insisted “I’m an excellent mother” as she outlined a plot to smuggle her baby daughter out of the UK.
The 36-year-old and partner Mark Gordon, 49, are accused of causing the death of baby Victoria when they went on the run from authorities in December 2022.
She faces allegations that the new-born girl was subjected to freezing cold conditions as they camped on the South Downs, was denied access to healthcare, and allegedly did not have adequate food or clothing for warmth.
In her third day of evidence, Marten outlined how the couple had planned to “smuggle” their daughter to Europe after she was born.
“My number one concern was to keep Victoria”, she said.
“I’m a good mother. I’m an excellent mother, actually. And she deserved my love and attention.”
Marten and Gordon say they decided to flee when she was heavily pregnant as their previous four children had been taken away into care, and they feared the same fate for their fifth child.
Marten told jurors she believed she was under a “travel ban” as a result of previous court proceedings, and she refused to say which European country they were plotted to move to.
“The plan was to go abroad with Victoria, to get away from the services in this country and my family.
“We would lay low in the UK until we found a way of getting us and Victoria out. The plan was to try and go abroad legally, or find some people who would smuggle us abroad illegally.”
Marten said they considered approaching a nursery worker or carer to help, and told the court: “There is a large underground network of parents who have been through the services. The problem is knowing who to trust.”
She said out fledgling plans to travel and live in Europe under aliases, and added: “It is not very easy to find people to smuggle you abroad, but it’s not impossible.”
Marten and Gordon are accused of baby Victoria’s manslaughter by gross negligence during their time “off grid” between late December 2022 and February last year.
Victoria’s body was found in a disused shed in the Brighton area after the couple’s capture, stored in a Lidl bag-for-life and concealed under a pile of rubbish.
They had spent weeks on the run travelling across the UK in taxis, sleeping rough on the South Downs, and scavenging for food in bins.
Marten says her baby daughter died in her sleep on January 9, 2023, just days after being born, and denies that she was responsible for any neglect that may have caused the death.
The former photographer and shop worker hails from a wealthy aristocratic family, and the court has heard she accessed thousands of pounds while she and Gordon were on the run.
In her evidence, Marten alleged that her other children had been “stolen” from her in family court proceedings, describing it as a “rotten case”.
She is estranged from her family, and has made a series of allegations against them.
“My family have a lot of money, a lot of clout, and a lot of connections”, she said. “That’s how they were able to do what they did.”
Referring to previous court proceedings, she said: “They said I was bearing children to sell on the black market, that I was a drug addict”, adding that these were “allegations that were wholly unfounded”.
Marten also told jurors she believed their cars were being followed, had been fitted with GPS tracking devices, and she claimed a string of their vehicles had mysteriously broken down.
After they went on the run, their Peugeot 206 broke down and caught fire on the M61 in early January last year, with Marten and Gordon fleeing before the police arrived. She described that car as being “detonated”.
The defendants, who previously lived in east London but are now of no fixed address, deny manslaughter by gross negligence, perverting the course of justice, concealing the birth of a child, child cruelty and causing or allowing the death of a child.
The trial continues.
