Constance Marten's fellow baby-killing lover Mark Gordon gets major trial update

A charge against the partner of baby-killing aristocrat Constance Martenhas been dropped after they were both convicted of manslaughter.

In July, Marten, 38, and Mark Gordon, 51, were found guilty of killing baby Victoria after they went off grid to avoid her being taken into care. The couple, who are in custody, are facing years in jail when they are sentenced at the Old Bailey on September 15.

On Monday, Gordon returned to court for a hearing about an outstanding charge relating to his failure to keep in contact with police as a registered sex offender. He was alleged to have breached his notification requirements while on the run from authorities between January 3 and February 27 2023.

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Prosecutor Joel Smith KC told the court that in light of his recent conviction for manslaughter, the Crown Prosecution Service took the view that it was no longer in the public interest to pursue the charge.

Gordon, who appeared by video-link from Belmarsh prison unrepresented by a lawyer, seemed uncertain when asked to enter a plea.

Judge Mark Lucraft KC told him: “If you plead not guilty that will bring proceedings to an end.”

Gordon then responded: “Of course, not guilty.”

Mr Smith then offered no evidence and invited Judge Lucraft to formally acquit Gordon.

Afterwards, Gordon complained to the judge that he had difficulty finding a lawyer to represent him at his upcoming sentencing hearing.

He said: “I’m not up to the challenge of representing myself. I do not know the law. It’s too much for me to do. I cannot do it.”

Judge Lucraft refused any delay, saying the case which ran over two long-running trials had already been “hugely expensive”.

He told Gordon: “The boot is on your foot to get representation. If you are here on September 15 unrepresented, the court will proceed to sentence.”

Previously, the court had heard how police launched a nationwide hunt after the defendants’ car burst into flames on the motorway near Bolton, Greater Manchester.

The couple travelled across England and went off grid sleeping in a tent on the South Downs where baby Victoria died.

After seven weeks on the run, the defendants were arrested in Brighton, East Sussex.

Following a desperate search, police found their baby dead amid rubbish inside a Lidl bag in a disused shed nearby.

Victoria’s remains were too badly decomposed to establish the cause of death.

The prosecution said she died from hypothermia in the cold and damp conditions inside the flimsy tent, or was smothered.

The defendants claimed their daughter’s death was a tragic accident after Marten fell asleep on her.

A jury in their retrial unanimously found Marten and Gordon guilty of manslaughter.

In their first trial last year, the defendants were convicted of perverting the course of justice, concealing the birth of a child and child cruelty.