BABY 'KILLING'
Moment cops ask Constance Marten ‘where is your child?’ as she’s arrested for ‘killing baby while on the run with lover’
Lover's remarks to police revealed in court after arrest brought 54-day hunt to an end
THIS is the moment cops asked a runaway aristocrat "where is your child?" after she allegedly killed her newborn baby, a court heard.
Constance Marten, 36, was held alongside her partner Mark Gordon, 49, after 54 days on the run with baby Victoria, jurors heard.
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On February 27 last year, police tracked the couple down to Brighton but they refused to answer where the newborn was.
Tragically, baby Victoria was already dead after her parents went "off-grid" - living in a "thin and flimsy" tent in the middle of winter.
Bodycam footage seen by jurors shows the moment police swooped to arrest Marten and Gordon on suspicion of child neglect.
Police Sergeant Robert Button approaches the dad first, asking him to stop.
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When asked why, the officer says: "Well because potentially I think you may have been in the national news."
Gordon then denies the claim as police repeatedly tell him to put down a stick he was clutching.
He also complained he was hungry and "wasn't doing anything" - causing Marten to intervene, saying: "Stop with him please, he's not well."
The mum continues: "Oh my god, I can't watch. Leave him alone. Let him eat his food. He's starving."
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Another officer then tells Marten: "I'll level with you, you are under arrest for child neglect."
Marten replied: "For doing what?"
Runaway aristocrat Constance Marten seen buying petrol to 'cremate newborn baby she killed after going off-grid'
She was then asked by officers: "Where's your child? Where's your child? Sorry, where is your child, we need to know?"
After failing to respond, a dog handler demands "tell me now" and reveals they are planning to search the woods.
Marten is then further arrested for concealment of the birth of a child but insists it is "not an arrestable offence".
She adds: "You can't arrest someone for hiding a pregnancy."
As she was led away by cops, Marten can be heard yelling "Daddy Bear" to Gordon, who responds: "Love you babe, be good, I love you forever, forever and evermore."
As Gordon was being restrained on the ground but was refused to answer where his baby was, it was said.
I'm not going to make you a sandwich.
Arresting police officer
An officer said: "Are you saying you're not going to tell us where the child is until you've eaten, is that right?
"If I give you something to eat will you tell me where your child is?"
The officer then handed Gordon some ginger beer and a slice of chicken - causing the dad to ask for "mayonnaise please".
The cop replies: "I'm not going to make you a sandwich, we need to work out where your child is, mate.
"We've got a child to find it's a bit more important."
Gordon then asks police "what's the big deal" as police offer him another slice of chicken and some crisps.
Victoria, who spent "much of her life" in a Lidl bag for life, was later discovered dead inside an abandoned shed like she was "refuse".
A manhunt had been launched for the pair after their burning car was discovered on the M61 motorway in Greater Manchester on January 5.
Officers found placenta wrapped in a towel, "new baby" nappies and newborn clothing, as well as "burner phones", it is said.
But instead of contacting police, Marten and Gordon allegedly instead tried to hide their whereabouts over fears Victoria would be taken into care like their four other children.
Jurors were told the couple chose to "deprive the baby of what she needed" - including "warmth, shelter and food and ultimately safety".
In the middle of a "cold winter and in cruel and obviously dangerous weather conditions", the pair "essentially went off-grid".
Timeline of baby 'killing' - how couple evaded cops
CONSTANCE Marten and Mark Gordon allegedly sparked a 54-day manhunt across the UK after vanishing with their baby Victoria.
Here's how the pair's journey began...
December 20, 2022
Marten and Gordon booked into a holiday cottage in Northumberland, with the rental due to end on Boxing Day. The owner told jurors he found the property in "something of a state" on December 28.
December 24, 2022
The couple claim their baby daughter was born this day but this has been disputed by prosecutors.
December 28, 2022
Their Suzuki broke down on the M18 motorway so a recovery driver took them to a nearby Sainsbury's. There was allegedly no sign of the baby but the back and side windows of the car had been blocked by clothing.
January 4, 2023
Marten and Gordon checked into the Ibis hotel at the Lymm Services in Cheshire then later the AC Hotel in Manchester.
January 5, 2023
The couple's Peugeot 206 catches fire on the M61 motorway in Greater Manchester. Police launch an urgent probe after finding placenta, burner phones and Marten's passport, jurors were told.
She and Gordon are taken to a Morrisons store in Bolton by a member of the public before being seen on CCTV at the nearby Bolton Interchange station.
The couple allegedly use Marten's trust for a taxi to Liverpool, then a £400 cab to Harwich in Essex.
Cab driver Ali Yaryar, who picked the couple up from Liverpool, told the court: "I think the baby had no clothes".
January 6, 2023
The couple arrive in Harwich and check into a Premier Inn at around 3am. They later move to the Fryatt Hotel, where they paid in cash, it was said.
January 7, 2023
Marten and Gordon travel by taxi to Colchester then to East Ham in London. The couple allegedly buy a buggy from Argos then grab another cab to Whitechapel.
They ate in a Brick Lane restaurant then dump the new buggy - choosing instead to keep Victoria in a Lidl bag, jurors heard.
January 8, 2023
The couple spend £475 on a taxi from Hornsey to Newhaven in East Sussex and walk to the South Downs National Park. Marten buys snacks and petrol with cash but there was no sign of the baby, it is said.
January 9, 2023
Both Marten and Gordon claim baby Victoria died on this day - making her 16 days old, the court was told. It is said there is no way of knowing this for sure.
January 16, 2023
Marten and Gordon are seen setting up a tent in Stanmer Park Nature Reserve in the South Downs despite the cold weather.
February 16/17, 2023
The couple are spotted near Hollingbury Golf Course in rural Sussex allegedly pushing a buggy with no baby. Their tent is later seen in Coldean Lane in Brighton
A driver sees the pair walking towards Stanmer Park with something under Marten's puffer jacket, the court heard.
February 19, 2023
Gordon and Marten are allegedly seen in their tent in the park with a very young baby with a "wobbly" head. Jurors told the baby had no socks, blanket or hat on.
February 27, 2023
The couple are arrested in Hollingbury Place in Brighton but do not reveal Victoria's location at first, it is said.
March 1, 2023
Tragic Victoria is found dead in a Lidl bag covered in rubbish inside a disused shed "like refuse", the court is told.
Jurors heard they lived in a tent with barely any clothes and no means of keeping warm and dry.
With "scarcely" any food, Marten and Gordon remained on the run, failed to seek medical assistance or even register the birth as they moved from "location to the location", it was said.
The couple deny manslaughter by gross negligence, concealment of the birth of a child, cruelty to a person under 16 and perverting the course of justice.
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They also deny causing or allowing the death of a child, an alternative charge to manslaughter, between 4 January and 27 February last year.
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