THIS is the moment a runaway aristocrat bought a bottle of petrol to allegedly cremate the baby she killed, a court heard.
Constance Marten , 36, and her partner Mark Gordon, 49, are accused of going on-the-run with baby Victoria to stop her being taken away.
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The pair concealed the birth in 2022 then went “off-grid” – living in a “thin and flimsy” tent in the middle of winter, jurors heard.
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”.
Jurors were shown footage of Marten filling up a bottle with petrol on January 12 last year.
She also bought three packs of Jacob’s Mini Cheddars from the Texaco garage and a newspaper.
Marten allegedly planned to cremate the baby after discovering her dead inside her coat but changed her mind.
A 54-day hunt was 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.
A missing person’s enquiry was launched, which became “bigger and bigger news” as time went on, jurors were told.
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.
The couple allegedly travelled across England – including spending £400 on a taxi from Liverpool to Essex using “wealthy” Marten’s trust fund.
Marten, whose family lived at Dorset estate Crichel House, received nearly £19,000 in payments into her account from the trust while on the run.
Her father was a page to the late Queen, while her grandmother was a goddaughter to the Queen Mother.
Despite this, 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”.
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.
Witness Sarah Hidden told the court she heard a baby crying in the middle of the night on two consecutive nights last January.
Days later, she was out walking her dog on a coastal path when she thought she saw the couple from the news.
Mrs Hidden said: “A couple of nights before I saw the couple there was the sound of a baby crying. I was asleep but the crying woke me up.”
On the first night it happened, there was a storm and the weather was windy and rainy, she said.
The witness added: “I know people take babies out to get them to sleep but I don’t think they would do it in a storm.”
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.
The next night she heard a baby crying again and it was also raining, the court was told.
Mrs Hidden said: “It was definitely a young baby crying.
“It’s a different sound to an older baby crying, more constant, a bit more high pitched, urgent sounding.”
Marten and Gordon deny manslaughter by gross negligence, concealment of the birth of a child, cruelty to a person under 16 and perverting the course of justice.
Read more on the Scottish Sun
They also deny causing or allowing the death of a child, an alternative charge to manslaughter, between 4 January and 27 February last year.
The trial continues.
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