‘Selfish’ Couple Fleeing Social Services Let Baby Die While Camping in Midwinter, Trial Told

LONDON—A couple who went “off-grid” to hide a pregnancy from social services let their baby die after camping in freezing midwinter conditions, a trial has been told. Constance Marten, 36, and Mark Gordon, 49, have gone on trial at the Old Bailey in London after the body of their baby daughter was found in an allotment in Brighton last winter. The couple deny gross negligence manslaughter, concealing the birth of a child, causing or allowing the death of a child, wilful neglect of a child, and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Ms. Marten—who comes from an aristocratic family —and her partner were arrested in Stanmer Villas in Brighton on Feb. 27, 2023 but the body of the child, who is being identified as Baby A, was only found two days later, in a plastic bag “under rubbish” in an unlocked allotment shed....