Constance Marten: ‘Callous and selfish' or grieving mother?

Yahoo

a day ago

Constance Marten was cast by the prosecution as a callous and selfish woman who put her relationship with Mark Gordon above all else, ultimately ending in the tragic death of baby Victoria.
Her former defence barrister insisted she was no 'monster' but a grieving mother with a deep love for all of her children, like a lioness for her cubs.
The Old Bailey heard how the closer she got to convicted rapist Gordon, the more remote she became from her family and the cosseted life she had once led.
Just how far the 38-year-old had strayed from her aristocratic roots was exposed in grainy CCTV images of the couple scavenging in bins for leftover scraps while on the run from authorities.
Mother-of-five Marten was born into a wealthy and influential family, although her parents split up when she was young.
Her paternal grandmother was the late Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's goddaughter and childhood playmate of the late Princess Margaret.
Marten was privately educated, studied Arabic at Leeds University and travelled extensively in Africa.
Having trained in journalism, she worked for Al Jazeera, the Middle Eastern news station, before becoming a promising actor.
Marten had no criminal convictions although she had been given a fixed penalty notice in 2009 over an allegation of shoplifting.
In 2014, Marten met Gordon in an Indian incense shop in Tottenham, north London, and cemented their 'unlikely' coupling with a Peruvian marriage ceremony seven years ago.
She described Gordon as her 'daddy bear', her 'soulmate' and 'amazing' saying that they shared the 'same perspectives on life'.
Before secretly giving birth to Victoria, their four other children were taken into care, cementing Marten's anti-establishment stance.
She rejected a family court judge's finding relating to domestic abuse, saying her children were taken away after she accidentally 'fell from a window'.
According to Marten, she had a 'long history of issues' with her family, who never met Gordon.
She claimed that they disapproved of her partner and were 'embarrassed' they had children together.
Jurors heard her concerned parents had engaged private investigators to find her in the past and her father had applied for wardship in the family court.
In her evidence, Marten claimed her family were 'extremely oppressive and bigoted' and would do anything to 'erase the child from the family line'.
She told jurors: 'The problem I had was I was not just up against social services but family members who were very influential with huge connections in high places including Parliament.
'If they said to social services 'jump', social services will say 'how high'.
'They were highly embarrassed about the fact I had children with Mark and the fact they do not come from an upper class, privileged background.'
She added that the unnamed family members would go to 'any lengths' to get what they wanted.
Marten's family is understood to strongly dispute that they were 'embarrassed' by Gordon or concerned about his background in any way other than the fact he was convicted of rape and assault.
Marten's suspicions ran deep and appeared linked to financial arrangements for administering a trust fund from her late grandmother.
She complained it was 'cut off overnight' when she was expecting her first child but she was receiving £2,000 a month after the birth of her second.
In just over four months before her arrest, she was given almost £50,000 from the fund and had some £19,000 in the bank.
The financial Trust was not managed by Marten's mother Virginie and her family so they did not have control over how and when funds are allocated or distributed.
Despite Marten's harsh words towards her family, her mother and brother regularly attended court in her first trial.
But Marten appeared to avoid eye contact with them, instead looking to her partner, Gordon, for support in the dock.
Marten admitted telling lies, including affecting an Irish accent as she gave birth to her first child in hospital, claiming to staff she was from a Traveller community.
In a damning closing speech, prosecutor Tom Little KC told jurors: 'Lies fell from her mouth like confetti in the wind when she gave evidence.'
Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford, who led the Scotland Yard investigation, said Marten and Gordon lived 'in their own world of lies and beliefs'.
He told the PA news agency: 'There was no acceptance of society and standards that we judge ourselves against… Everyone is wrong, apart from them.'
Following a six-month retrial, Marten and Gordon were found guilty of the manslaughter of their baby Victoria.