UK Heiress Sentenced After Baby Found Dumped Like Trash | Constance Martin Update

When UK British heiress and her partner Mark Gordon went on the run with their newborn, a nationwide manhunt ended in tragedy. 

Now, after Constance Marten's retrial filled with courtroom drama, chaos, explosive revelations, and shocking testimony, the verdict is finally in. 

What really happened to baby Victoria—and how did this high-profile case of parental neglect and deception unfold?

Listen to this update case now!


Listen to the original full case here:

UK Heiress and Convict Partner Carried Dead Newborn Around in Bag | Constance Marten and Mark Gordon
https://murderandlove.com/a-missing-heiress-and-her-convict-partner-a-concealed-birth-and-a-dead-newborn-the-case-of-constance-marten-and-mark-gordon/

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, Lamb's kai here, just here to do a really
quick episode before my day begins. So you're probably gonna
hear noise like in the background. Don't worry about it.
It's not my regular recording time in today's episode. It's
an update. And I do take you back to an
episode I did in season four named uk Airis and
convict partner carried dead newborn around in bag and it

(00:23):
was the case of Constance Martin and Mark Gordon. If
you didn't listen to that case, the link to this
episode is in the show notes below, but here's the TLDR,
or I guess in this case, the TLDL. In twenty
twenty three, British aristocrat Constant Martin and her partner Mark
Gordon vanished after their car was found buried in Manchester

(00:45):
with signs that she had recently given birth. For nearly
two months, the couple evaded a nationwide manhunt, seen traveling
with their newborn hidden under a shawl, living intense during
freezing weather. When they were finally arrested in Brighton, their baby,
who they later named Victoria, was missing. Days later, police
found her body hidden under trash near their arrest site.

(01:09):
Constance and Mark were convicted of concealing birth and pervert injustice,
but their manslaughter trial ended without a verdict. A retrial
was set for March twenty twenty five. So I suggest
you listen to the full episode to hear all the
shocking details, because it is shocking again. The link is
in the show notes below. So now they've been retried

(01:32):
and sentenced, and that's what today's episode is all about.
An update. But before we get into that, I want
to remind you that you, my lambs, are my sponsors.
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(01:55):
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(02:16):
get at free episodes, intro, free episodes, early release episodes,
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(02:38):
murdered and burned him. This is the case of Andrew
and Elizabeth Hawes. Imagine a brother coming home only to
be ambushed in his own driveway, crossbow bolts, hammers, and
a staged attack fueled by greed and betrayal. It's one
of the most shocking family murders we've covered, and it's

(02:58):
live right now for the ten dollars in a lambfam.
You can hear it at patreon dot com for its
Lash eleven murderer. Now let's get into today's update. The
case against thirty eight year old Constance Martin and fifty
one year old Mark Gordon ended up cost in taxpayers
about two point eight million pounds in court and legal fees.

(03:20):
That's about three million, seven hundred and seventy two thousand,
one hundred and sixty US dollars. It involved two separate
trials at the Old Bailey. Throughout both of them showed
what one senior judge described as quote a complete lack
of respect for the court, acting worse than teenage murderers.

(03:41):
They were disruptive, constantly passing notes, whispering during evidence, and
at times refuse into attend court, which dragged the case
out for months. Constance even sent a note to the
judge once asking quote, could I nip out for a
coffee as we're falling asleep? Judge Mark Lucraft KC became

(04:02):
exasperated and said, quote, Constant Martin is not running this trial.
Over the proceedings, Constance was represented by fourteen different barristers.
Mark eventually fired his own legal team and chose to
represent himself, which only caused more delays and confusion. The

(04:22):
prosecution argued that Constance and Mark were selfish parents whose
quote callous, cruel, and arrogant actions led directly to their daughter,
Victoria's death. Prosecutor Tim Little k C said their focus
was always on themselves, dismissing Constance's claims of persecution by
her family and social services as fantasy. He called her

(04:45):
story about quote mission impossible style private investigators swooping out
of the sky mythical and said quote lives fell from
her mouth like confetti in the wind. The prosecution's position
was that in Victoria's death had been a terrible accident,
the couple would have gone to authorities immediately instead of
hiding her body, which sounds reasonable to me. The defense

(05:09):
told the jury Victoria's death had been a tragic accident.
Constance testified that on January ninth, she fell asleep while
holding Victoria zipped inside of her jacket. When she woke up,
the baby was gone. I mean, why would you fall
asleep with a baby zipped inside of your jacket? Or
did you even stop to think maybe she couldn't breathe?

(05:31):
Did you have her in a position to be able
to get enough occident like They claimed that she didn't
call for help because they wanted to give their daughter dignity.
What does colin for help and dignity have to do
with each other. Constance tried to justify their lifestyle, comparing
living in a tent to desert nomads. You're not a

(05:52):
desert nomad. You come from a rich family. Desert nomads
know how to live like desert nomads. You come from
a rich family, and you don't start testing that theory
when you have a newborn baby with you and it's
freezing temperatures in the UK. Her mother, Virgine de Cellier's

(06:14):
I think that's how you say her name, testified for
her calling her daughter feisty, courageous and determined when it
came to her children. So what I'm now gonna do
is get into the day by day of the trial
a bit so you can see how it went. So
March third, twenty twenty five, the pre trial heron opened
at the Old Bailey before Judge Mark Lucraft KC, the

(06:37):
court's most senior judge. Neither Constance nor Mark showed up.
Judge Lucraft was told that Constance refused to attend, claiming
that she was sick, even though she had been declared
medically fit. The judge made it clear the case would
go on whether or not they were in court. He said,
quote those who are genuinely ill, I have great say

(07:00):
sympathy for those who do not feel like come in,
I have very little sympathy for March tenth, twenty twenty five,
the day the trial started, Prosecutor Tom Little KC told
the jury that this was a paradegm case of gross negligence. Manslaughter.
He said Constance had access to a family trust fund

(07:21):
and could have rented a property but chose not to.
So she had the money to do it, but she
chose to live in a tent and equate herself to
a desert nomad. He showed the jury CCTV footage of
the couple's frantic journey across England after their car caught fire.
Quote is that any way to look after a baby
at this stage? He asked? March twelfth, twenty twenty five,

(07:47):
On the third day of trial, Constance spoke directly to
judge a Lucraft from the dock, breaking court room rules.
She complained about exhaustion from what she described as seventeen
to nineteen hour days. Oh, I'm so tired, sidebar, your honor.
Isn't that how desert nomads live or anybody who doesn't

(08:09):
live in what we perceive as a conventional house, seventeen
to nineteen hour days, because you're constantly fixing your traveling dwelling,
You're constantly going out and searching for food, You're constantly
making sure everybody is okay. You're constantly making sure your
animals are okay. So if it's a nomad. They have

(08:32):
seventeen to nineteen hour days, but you can't even bother
to come to court feeling remorseful for what you did. Instead,
you're complaining about exhaustion from seven for seventeen to nineteen
hour days, blaming the early start and the long trip
from HMP Bronzefield again, how desert nomads live early starts,

(08:57):
long trips. She said this affect her chance of a
fair hearing. The judge reminded her that, ma'am, you're a
convicted prisoner. April twenty fifth, twenty twenty five, a problem
came up when the jury was mistakenly given an old
version of Mark's police interview that mentioned his quote history.
His barrister argued that this was prejudicial and even suggested

(09:20):
the jury might have to be discharged. Judge Lucraft refused,
saying it wasn't in anyone's interest for the jury to
know about Mark's past conviction, and the trial continued. Now
my question is how did they accidentally get his history.
Was it the defense that accidentally included it in there
or did it come from the prosecution. Now, if you

(09:43):
want to know more about his history as well as constances,
then listen to the previous episode if you haven't already,
it's all there. Lincoln is in the show notes below,
and this goes to anybody who did listen to it
but forgot about it. You could always go back and
re listen to it. April twenty second, twenty twenty five,
Constance was due to start giving evidence, but she said
she had a headache and a toothache, and she asked

(10:06):
for the delay, and the judge agreed. Wow. April twenty third,
twenty twenty five. The next day, she refused to come
to court altogether with the juries at home. Judge Lucroff
made it clear that he'd had enough. Quote, it would
be rather different if this were one off, but it's not.
And remember this is coming out of the citizen's pockets,

(10:29):
just taxpayers money going to waste. I would just bill
her parents. I would bill her family. They're rich. April
twenty fourth, twenty twenty five, when Constance finally took the stand,
her testimony was marked by long, exaggerated yawns that she
used to show how tired she was. What's a douchebag?

(10:51):
Questioned about her four older children being taken into care,
she became angry and yelled that they were quote stolen
by the state. April twenty ninth, twenty twenty five, in
front of the jury, while giving evidence, Constance blurted out
that Mark had quote a violent rape conviction that detail
had been deliberately kept from the jury to ensure a

(11:13):
fair trial. The jury was immediately sent out. Prosecutors said
that she was making a quote deliberate attempt to take
a reckon ball to the case. Constance claimed that it
was a slip up caused by exhaustion and what she
called her quote agonizing toothache. May sixth, twenty twenty five.
After Constance blurted out Mark's past conviction, his legal team

(11:37):
withdrew from the case. Mark told the court quote, I'd
like to represent myself. May thirteenth, twenty twenty five, Constance
suddenly ended her testimony after weeks of cross examination. She
stood in the dock and said, quote, I'm not going
to give evidence anymore. I've made a decision that formally
closed her testimony. May twenty first, twenty twenty five. Now

(12:00):
representing himself, Mark gave his own evidence. He spoke to
the jury for an entire day, telling them that both
he and Constance were deranged from the trauma of losing
their other children. He added, quote, we weren't normal. I
have to explain myself criminally for the loss of the
baby I loved. Now, I'm not saying they didn't love
the baby. I'm not saying they didn't love any of

(12:22):
their children. I'm not saying that at all. What I'm
saying is I don't see any remorse for the baby
that was lost. I don't see any respect for the
situation they're in, and I don't see that they're trying
to do their best to even get back to their
other kids. Because I'm pretty sure if you had shown

(12:43):
remorse respect for the court, you know that you were
so sorry, which I guess is remorse that you were
so sorry what happened to your baby, show something. They
would take that into consideration, at least for Constance, and
you can get back to your children. But as far
as I'm seeing, it's just a show, you know. May
twenty third, twenty twenty five, when it was time for

(13:05):
the prosecution to cross examine him, Mark refused to answer quote,
I will no longer answer questions, he said. Because of that,
The judge ruled that the jury could hear about his
US convictions for rape and battery. May twenty ninth, twenty
twenty five, a police officer testified, confirming for the jury
that Mark had been convicted of rape in Florida in

(13:27):
nineteen eighty nine when he was just fourteen. Then, on
July fourteenth, twenty twenty five, after a lengthy re trial,
the jury came back with a unanimous verdict. They found
both Constance and Mark guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence,
child cruelty, concealing the birth of a child, and perverting

(13:48):
the course of justice. Neither of them even stood up
to hear it. Constance shook her head and called it
a scam, while Mark said the trial was unfair. They
were sentenced on September fifteenth, twenty twenty five. Judge Lucroft
told them, quote, neither of you gave much, if any thought,
to the care of your baby. Your focus was on yourselves.

(14:10):
He said their negligence was of quote the most serious
and gravest type, and that they had shown no quote,
genuine remorse, instead blaming others. Both were sentenced to fourteen
years in prison. Because of his assessed dangerousness. Mark was
also given an extended sentence of four years on license

(14:32):
or on probuit or on probation. As we say in
the States, they are expected to serve two thirds of
their terms. So if I'm doing my math right, which
math isn't my strongest suit, that's about nine years in
some change. If I'm wrong, let me know in the
comments below. As the sentence was read out, Constant sighed
heavily and Mark just stared straight ahead. Just no regard,

(14:57):
just none. In the doc, the couple we're scolded for
once again passing notes to each other during the hearing,
part of what the judge called their complete lack of respect.
The case has now triggered a national Child Safeguarden review
to consider whether new laws are needed to protect unborn
children of high risk parents. And that is the update

(15:20):
of these two entitled bags of blah. Their baby died,
their other four kids are living without them, and they
couldn't be bothered to care. Let me know your thoughts
on this case, and that is all I have for
you today. If you want more cases, you can hit
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(15:41):
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(16:04):
Thanks for joining me in this Buenus case, Thanks for
listening all the way to the end. Thank you for
being a Lamb, and I will see you in the
next episode. Bye.