Marten and partner held for manslaughter
Aristocrat and partner charged with gross negligence manslaughter after body discovered
A baby found on an allotment in Brighton may have been dead for “several weeks”, police have said, as they charged Constance Marten and her boyfriend Mark Gordon with gross negligence manslaughter. The couple were arrested in Brighton on Monday night and the body of an infant was found two days later by an allotment on the South Downs after police were tipped off by a member of the public. Police say they are struggling to identify the baby’s gender.
A BABY found on an allotment in Brighton may have been dead for “several weeks” police revealed, as they charged Constance Marten and her boyfriend Mark Gordon with gross negligence manslaughter following the death of an infant.
The couple were arrested in Brighton on Monday night after an exhaustive search for the pair and their newborn baby. The body of an infant child was found two days later on the edge of an allotment on the South Downs after police were tipped off by a passing member of the public.
Ms Marten and Mr Gordon were arrested following a police hunt after they disappeared on Jan 5 when their abandoned car was discovered on fire on the M61 near Bolton, Lancashire.
Barry Hughes, chief crown prosecutor for CPS London North, said last night: “The CPS has authorised the Metropolitan Police to charge Constance Marten and Mark Gordon with gross negligence manslaughter. Constance Marten, aged 35, and Mark Gordon, aged 48, have also been charged with concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice.”
The pair will appear at Crawley magistrates’ court today.
The baby, which was found left out in the open, may have been dead for “several weeks”, said police earlier. They added that they have been unable to confirm the infant’s gender.
Det Supt Lewis Basford, of the Metropolitan Police, said a post-mortem examination still had to be carried out.
He said: “Based on the inquiries we’ve carried out so far, we believe, sadly, the baby had been dead for several weeks before they were found. It’s too early for us to provide a more specific date.”
Det Supt Basford added: “It’s too early for us to provide a specific date because we believe the death occurred during the course of a missing persons investigation. We have made a mandatory referral to the Independent Office of Police Conduct. This is a standard protocol for such circumstances”.
Fears had grown over their baby’s safety since the last previous sighting of the couple in Newhaven on Jan 8. A source close to the investigation said: “The body of the baby was found after a tip-off to police from a member of the public and was discovered in an area which had not been searched by police.”
Residents began to leave bunches of flowers and candles overnight, along with the white statuette of an angel and teddy bears, at a police cordon close to the scene. One tribute, taped on to a white teddy bear, read: “RIP, little darling.”
Candles were being lit yesterday evening in people’s windows in roads close to where the baby was found, in memory of the child.
Forensics officers could be seen yesterday minutely examining the area where the baby was found, close to allotment sheds and outhouses. The spot is bordered by the allotment’s fencing, which runs parallel to a path through woodland leading down to houses on the edge of Brighton and up to Hollingbury golf course and the Wild Park nature reserve, which is popular with local families.