A woman accused of causing the death of her newborn child has said having to stand trial twice has prevented her grieving.
Constance Marten and her partner, Mark Gordon, are being tried for the gross negligence manslaughter of their daughter Victoria, who died after they took her to live in a tent on the South Downs in early 2023.
Giving evidence at the Old Bailey on Thursday, Marten was asked how she felt about the child’s death now. She told jurors: “I don’t think this process has really allowed me to grieve properly. I still feel angry, upset, still in shock.”
The court was told the couple were seeking to prevent Victoria becoming the fifth child of theirs to be removed when they went off-grid. Their disappearance precipitated a high-profile police hunt for the missing baby, with Marten claiming her other children had been “stolen by the state” and insisting she and Gordon did “everything we could to protect” Victoria.
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 claims Victoria died from hypothermia or was smothered while co-sleeping in the “flimsy” tent, despite past warnings.
The child’s body was discovered with rubbish inside a shopping bag in a disused shed near Brighton after the defendants were arrested on 27 February 2023.
There had been a delay to Marten starting her evidence after she complained of suffering from a headache and toothache on Tuesday, but she began her evidence-in-chief on Thursday morning.
Sitting in the witness box wearing a blue blouse and navy blazer, Marten told the court that she “absolutely” loved Victoria. Asked if she did anything to cause her harm, the defendant said: “Absolutely not, we did everything we could to protect her.”
She said Victoria was born on Christmas Eve 2022 and died on 9 January the next year. The court heard how Marten and Gordon “stayed all around the country” in various hotels and properties in the months leading up to Victoria’s birth.
Marten explained they moved between places “because I didn’t want one single authority to have jurisdiction over my daughter, so if we kept moving, they couldn’t take her”.
Jurors heard the defendants checked into a cottage in Northumberland between 20 and 26 December, where she gave birth. Marten said she had an easy pregnancy and delivery with no complications; adding she would have taken the baby to hospital “straight away” had there been any issues.
Detailing their plan after checking out of the cottage on Boxing Day, Marten said: “Continue to move jurisdictions every three or four days, rent a place in cash and live there as long as I can with Victoria.”
Gordon has chosen not to give evidence.
The pair, of no fixed address, have denied the gross negligence manslaughter of their daughter and causing or allowing her death between 4 January and 27 February 2023.
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.