Baby death couple jailed for 14 years

THE aristocrat Constance Marten and her convicted rapist partner were yesterday each jailed for 14 years for killing their newborn baby while on the run.

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Marten, 38, and Mark Gordon, 51, were in hiding when their baby daughter, Victoria, died in a tent on the South Downs in January 2023. The defendants had fled authorities to prevent Victoria being taken into care, as four other siblings had been before, the Old Bailey had heard.

The defendants were found guilty of Victoria's manslaughter, child cruelty, concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice, following two trials spanning six months each.

Yesterday, Judge Mark Lucraft KC jailed them both for 14 years, and handed Gordon a further four years on extended licence. He accepted the prosecution case that baby Victoria died from hypothermia after being exposed to "significant cold stress".