Jury told baby’s death ‘entirely avoidable’ as Marten and Gordon retrial begins

The court heard that Constance Marten and Mark Gordon went on the run with their newborn baby in January 2023. Photograph: GMP/PA

A wealthy aristocrat and her partner caused the “entirely avoidable” death of their baby daughter through their “reckless” and “grossly negligent” conduct while on the run to evade authorities, a retrial has heard.

Constance Marten, 37, and Mark Gordon, 50, of no fixed abode, deny manslaughter of their newborn by gross negligence and a second charge of causing or allowing the death of a child between 4 January and 27 February 2023.