Constance Marten says her family ‘will stop at nothing to get what they want’

Aristocrat Constance Marten has said that her family saw her as an “embarrassment” and “will stop at nothing to get what they want”, as she was cross-examined by partner Mark Gordon.

At the Old Bailey on Thursday, Gordon, who is now representing himself, asked Marten about if she recalled vehicles randomly stopping during the period they were together.

Marten told jurors that they were pursued by private investigators, that multiple vehicles they had used stopped working and that she found a GPS tracker on one, in what she described as a “cat and mouse” game.

She said: “There’s a few people in my biological family who see me as an embarrassment and are scared I will speak out about them and will stop at nothing to get what they want.”

The defendant added: “Some people who are privileged think they are above the rules.

“It is harrowing, you are up against these people who will stop at nothing, who have endless resources and connections.”

The defendant also said that a member of her family “doesn’t want me alive” after she spoke out against them, the court heard.

Marten, 37, and her partner Gordon, 50, deny the gross negligence manslaughter of their daughter Victoria and causing or allowing her death between January 4 and February 27 2023.

The couple were avoiding their fifth child being removed from them amid a high-profile police hunt for the missing baby, with Marten claiming her other children were “stolen by the state”, the Old Bailey previously heard.

Marten comes from a wealthy family with whom she “never really had a strong connection” and eventually became estranged from, the court previously heard.

She said on Thursday that her family were prejudiced towards Gordon and did not approve of their relationship.

Marten said that she was living in fear and that her “number one priority” was to protect Victoria.

She told jurors that she has found Victoria’s death “very difficult to live with” but that it “wasn’t due to neglect in any way”.

It is alleged Victoria was inadequately clothed in a babygrow and that Marten had got wet as she carried the baby underneath her coat.

The prosecution says Victoria died from hypothermia or was smothered while co-sleeping in a “flimsy” tent on the South Downs, despite past warnings.

The defendant said that the baby died after she fell asleep over her.

Marten said that she “blacked out” and was “flopped forward” with her head on the floor.

Marten told jurors that the tent was intended to be a “pit stop” to avoid “prying eyes”.

She wept as she said that she would “turn back time” if she knew Victoria was in danger, adding that they “spent so long trying to protect her”.

The child’s body was discovered with rubbish inside a shopping bag in a disused shed near Brighton after the defendants were arrested on February 27 2023.

Prosecutor Joel Smith KC asked her on Thursday if it was a “despicable thing” to do to with her body.

Marten objected to his line of questioning, saying that Mr Smith was “diabolical” and a “heartless human being”.

She said that they were in a “very difficult position” after Victoria’s death and were “terrified and grief-stricken”.

Jurors have been told the defendants were convicted at an earlier trial of concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice.

The trial continues.