Constance Marten argued with police during arrest
CONSTANCE MARTEN argued with officers saying that you could not arrest someone for hiding a pregnancy, police body cam footage shows.
Body-worn camera footage recorded when she and her partner were arrested in Brighton last February showed officers becoming increasingly frustrated as the couple refused to cooperate. She repeatedly insists to police that concealing the birth of a baby “is not an arrestable offence”.
She adds: “You can’t arrest someone for hiding a pregnancy.”
Ms Marten, 36, and Mark Gordon, 49, had allegedly concealed the birth of their baby and then had gone on the run, living off-grid with baby Victoria in a tent on the South Downs in the depths of winter last year.
A nationwide hunt was launched when their burnt-out car was discovered at the side of the M61 near Bolton on Jan 7 last year.
On Feb 27, police tracked them down to the Hollingbury area of Brighton following a tip-off from a member of the public. But the baby was not with them and despite repeated questions from officers neither would say where Victoria was.
Her body was discovered on March 1 in a Lidl supermarket bag for life covered in rubbish in a disused shed.
In footage shown to the jury at the Old Bailey, Sgt Robert Button informs Mr Gordon he is under arrest on suspicion of child neglect.
The officer said the couple smelled “unclean and unwashed” and had an odour that he associated with homeless people.
Both defendants, of no fixed address, deny the manslaughter of baby Victoria by gross negligence between Jan 4 and Feb 27 last year.
They also deny perverting the course of justice, concealing the birth of a child, child cruelty and causing or allowing the death of a child. The trial continues.