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Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE The bizarre Tatler-esque glossy magazine run by serial fraudster that had 'Babe of the Month' aristocrat baby killer Constance Marten as cover girl
As a young debutante, Constance Marten cheerfully described her carefree life of society parties and summer holidays when she featured in an edition of Tatler magazine. Then aged 21 and going by her nickname Toots, the aristocrat confidently posed in a 1920's-style flapper dress after being crowned 'Babe of the Month' by the high society publication. Now Marten has been elevated to cover girl after her smiling image was emblazoned across the front page of an altogether less aspirational magazine called ' The View '. For readers not in the know, the publication heralds itself as 'a grass-roots social enterprise and campaigning platform that gives voice to women in the justice system' with the support of 'leading barristers, jurists and human rights advocates'. In reality, MailOnline can reveal, the bizarre, glossy magazine is a mouthpiece for its founder Farah Damji, one of Britain's most notorious con artists who is also a serial stalker and a fellow inmate of Marten. Damji - who is the daughter of a multi-millionaire property tycoon and has left behind a trail of countless shattered lives in a criminal career spanning 30 years - once insisted that no woman should ever go to prison. And it appears Marten is the latest recruit to her campaign. The View, which was launched in 2020, describes itself as a radical publication for 'women with conviction', could now face contempt of court proceedings over the article, which could have derailed a prosecution which has cost taxpayers around £2.8million over two trials across the last two years. Published quarterly in digital and print formats, it now boasts of having more than 15,000 paid subscribers including judges and officials working in government departments and think tanks. It claims to produce up to four digital magazines each year and one 'bumper' annual print edition which can be purchased for £20 for subscribers. Individual digital editions can also be purchased for £5. The magazine claims to have 25,000 readers with printed copies available in 130 stockists as well as all 12 women's prisons in England and Wales with 2,000 copies distributed in libraries at a cover cost of £5. There have been 79 episodes of its Rebel Justice podcast since the first episode was released in November 2021. Among its champions is former Labour peer Baroness Uddin who described The View as 'an incredible magazine' during a debate on women in the criminal justice system in the House of Lords in 2019. In an exclusive interview with the magazine, Marten, 38, paints a very different picture of her life from that of the upbeat trust-fund heiress of her Tatler days in 2009. It appears the publication - along with an accompanying podcast in which her 'unflinching testimony' is read by an actor - has given her the platform as a champion for the rights of vulnerable women who are 'survivors of trauma and state-endorsed violence'. Shedding light on the 'ongoing injustices women face in the legal system', Marten outlines her 'harrowing experience' as she stood trial at the Old Bailey alongside her rapist partner Mark Gordon, 51, after they were accused of killing their newborn baby. In a self-pitying rant about her 'inhumane conditions', Marten complained of the exhaustive process of having to sit through the hearing day after day while enduring the commute backwards and forwards from Bronzefield Prison in Ashford, Surrey where she was being detained. Marten - who spent a number of days absent from the court - complained the regime left her falling asleep in the dock while she was forced to endure 'freezing' conditions as the Old Bailey heating system was not working and had to eat 'disgusting' court food. In the article Marten, heiress worth £2.4million, took aim at Serco, the private firm which manages transport from prison to court while criticising the 'dehumanising' justice process. She said: 'This entire system will continue preventing us from having a right to a fair trial as long as we allow this to continue. 'I feel as if I need to sue Serco for adversely affecting my trial, preventing me from accessing my lawyers, and for my mental health, which is in pieces.' Prisoner A9624X also compared slammed prosecutors, claiming she was spoken to like a child. She also compared the lawyers to Dementors from Harry Potter, creatures referred to as 'soul sucking fiends.' She said of her CPS prosecutors: 'Tom Little and Joel Smith remind me of Dementors from Harry Potter. There's no empathy. I felt like I was being grilled as a serial killer. 'They all use this disgusting tone, like they're reprimanding a small child. I've heard them laugh and joke with others but with me, it's always condescending.' There is no mention of the freezing and inhumane conditions in which her newborn daughter Victoria died whose body was found in a Lidl carrier bag after Marten and Gordon went on the run from the authorities in December 2022. Published quarterly in digital and print formats, The View boasts of having more than 15,000 paid subscribers including judges and officials working in government departments and think tanks The couple - who had already had four children taken into care - took cars and taxis around the country to try to avoid detection, before setting up home in a flimsy tent on the South Downs in the middle of winter. When police finally caught up with the pair in February the following year, baby Victoria, whose grandfather was a page of honour to Queen Elizabeth II, was found dumped in a disused shed in a Lidl shopping bag. On top of her body was an empty beer can and the discarded packaging of an egg sandwich. Prosecutors believe she died from hypothermia or smothering but by then the corpse was too badly decomposed to be certain. Neither defendant was prepared to shed any light on the child's death and Gordon claimed Victoria would be alive today had police not pursued them. Astonishingly, the article was published half way through the couple's lengthy and chaotic second trial at the Old Bailey which the judge accused the couple of trying to 'sabotage' and 'derail'. They are now facing lengthy prison sentences after being found guilty of Victoria's manslaughter by gross negligence. The article is now being looked at as a potential contempt of court as it featured an image of one of the couple's children - which is banned by a court order. It appeared in the magazine alongside a piece focusing on another 'disturbing case' highlighting how women are being 'failed' by the criminal justice system - that of the paper's editor Damji, 58. Ugandan-born Damj first came to public prominence after she admitted having an affair with Guardian columnist William Dalrymple who she was later accused of stalking. Damji - once dubbed 'London's most dangerous woman' - is also said to have had a high profile affair with a senior executive on the paper. Just days before Marten's conviction, Damji was jailed for six years after she set out to destroy the life of her latest victim, former British diplomat Dr Nigel Gould-Davies. Dr Gould-Davies, a former British Ambassador to Belarus, was stalked, harassed and defrauded during an horrific campaign of 'lies and abuse'. The pair met through the dating site Bumble in July 2023 - days after Damji had been released from prison for a previous offence. The mother-of-two was using the fake name Noor Higham as they struck up a relationship, enjoying meals out, theatre trips, and spending time at his apartment. Dr Gould-Davies supported Damji through a cancer diagnosis and also helped out with her magazine and podcast. The forums would later be used to launch an attack on Dr Gould-Davies during Damji's trial. One podcast released in April this year was entitled 'Nigel Davies: A forensic analysis of a serial predator.' It featured evidence which trial judge Joanna Greenberg KC had ruled to be inadmissible during the ongoing case. Meanwhile, in court, the jury was told that within weeks of the start of their relationship, Damji had began sending 'hateful' emails and messages to Dr Gould-Davies' employers at the International Institute of Strategic Studies as well as work colleagues and his brother. Defamatory false allegations were also sent to others associated with his professional life including his local MP Emily Thornberry, solicitors, a foreign ambassador and news organisations. The jury at Wood Green Crown Court was told the messages were sent under false names including that of Clare Simms. The messages, which the court heard were designed to undermine Dr Gould-Davies' character and professional credibility, made bogus allegations that he was involved in money laundering, committed violence against women and breaches of the Official Secrets Act. Clare Simms is listed along with Noor Higham as directors of The View which was set up as a community interest company in 2020. On its website Simms is described as the magazine's editor at large. The court heard hateful messages were also sent by Holly Bright who is said to be The View's publishing director. She is also a former director of the firm which has twice fought off compulsory strike-off actions and whose latest accounts published this week show it has no capital, assets or creditors and liabilities and is listed as dormant. Damji has accused Dr Gould-Davies of mounting a campaign against the magazine and making a complaint about its officers to companies house. During her campaign of abuse, Damji stole a sensitive document relating to Russia and threatened to hand it over to the Russians leading to Dr Gould-Davies fearing he was in danger. She also stole his passport and bank card which she used on a spending spree making purchases at fashion outlet Paul Smith in a £13,621 fraud. Dr Gould-Davies was so alarmed he quit London to work in Berlin in a bid to get away from his mystery stalker, and separately ended his relationship with Damji in February 2024 - still unaware that she was his tormentor. It appears the publication gave Marten (above) the platform as a champion for the rights of vulnerable women who are 'survivors of trauma and state-endorsed violence' Marten (above) complained she was forced to endure 'freezing' conditions - yet there was no mention of the freezing and inhumane conditions in which her newborn daughter Victoria died after she and Gordon went on the run from the authorities While in Berlin, he investigated a website filled with slurs against his character which led him to discover Damji's true identity and prompting him to contact police. Meanwhile Damji had mounted an operation to track Dr Gould-Davies down, attending his London flat with associates, visiting areas around his mother's home in Spain, and contacting his brother in the USA. She identified his hotel through clues from a TV interview he conducted with CNN from his room and in March 2024 she sent him an email pretending to come from his ex-girlfriend, saying she knew where he was staying. The following day Damji was arrested at Heathrow Airport as she made a bid to fly to Berlin and has been in custody since. The court heard Damji's criminal convictions - which include fraud, theft, perverting the course of justice and three separate stalking charges - date back to 1993 when she ran an art gallery in New York. In 1995 she was sentenced to six months in Rikers Island prison plus five years' probation following a fraud over an apartment she was renting and crimes related to the gallery. During her time on probation, she allegedly committed further offences but she fled the country after a warrant was issued for her arrest. Damji ended up in South Africa where she more crimes were reported before she was deported. In the UK, Damji received cautions for theft and obtaining property by deception before she was jailed for three-and-a-half years for 17 offences including thefts and obtaining property by deception as well as perverting justice. While awaiting trial for offences including stealing credit cards from a nanny and an assistant and going on spending sprees, she posed as an official from the Crown Prosecution Service to contact a witness saying she did not need to attend court in a bid to sabotage the case. Weeks after being released from jail she began committing further deceptions and in 2010 was jailed for 15 months for a £17,500 housing benefit fraud. In 2016, Damji was jailed for five years in 2016 for stalking a church warden after they met on an online dating site. She attended the school of the victim's son and spoke with the deputy headmaster to 'make false allegations about the warden abusing vulnerable women'. Damji then continued to stalk the man and sent emails to the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Deputy Metropolitan Police Commissioner and an MP following her arrest. In 2020 she was sentenced to 27 months in jail for two counts of breaching a restraining order in April 2018 and June 2018. She was convicted in her absence after fleeing to Ireland during her trial. During her time in Ireland she lived under the identity of an Icelandic woman before she was finally re-arrested in County Galway in August 2022 and returned to Britain to serve her sentence. Jailing Damji over her latest offences, Judge Greenberg said: 'One can only speculate as to the reasons for your behaviour, but what you did to Dr Gould-Davies was callously and deliberately to set about destroying his life and reputation for no better reason than you were able to do so by employing methods with which, from your history, you are experienced. 'Given your history of committing criminal offences of harassment and dishonesty, one conclusion about your behaviour is that it may be explained by nothing more nor less than wickedness and greed.' Before Damji was jailed, it was Judge Greenberg who her magazine would set their sights on raising 'serious concerns' about her handling of cases. The View has mounted an ongoing campaign against the 'dangerous' judge. It has launched a petition calling for her to be removed from the bench as she poses 'a clear and present risk to the rights of women and girls who appear before her'. Asked why potentially prejudicial material was allowed to be published from inside prison walls by defendants during ongoing trials the Ministry of Justice declined to comment. The prison service denied the magazine was available in jails and insisted that all prisoners were subject to strict rules. A spokesperson said: 'This publication is produced independently, is not written or distributed within the prison estate, and HMPPS does not support its production.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Daily Mail
The celebrated dame who's the talk of high society for her naughty snorting habit... and it's not even cocaine. Plus a secret Royal romance and the maddest celebrity skincare secret yet: RICHARD EDEN'S DIARY
The trial of aristocrat Constance Marten – convicted this week alongside her lover, rapist Mark Gordon, of killing their baby daughter, Victoria – has inevitably inspired painstaking investigation into how a woman born to such privilege could choose to act in such a morally bankrupt manner. A possible clue to her character has been hiding – if not quite in plain sight – in the pages of Lady In Waiting, the bestselling memoir by Anne Glenconner.
The Sun
14-07-2025
- The Sun
How Constance Marten turned from party girl to homeless tearaway who raided bins & sparked one of UK's biggest manhunts
Ed Southgate Mike Sullivan Alex West Published: Invalid Date, ARISTOCRAT Constance Marten grew up in one of England's finest stately homes and ended up living in a tent foraging bins for food while on the run with convicted rapist Mark Gordon. The 37-year-old former Tatler 'It Girl" hails from landed gentry and her family had close links to the Royals. 10 10 10 But her life spiralled out of control after she and Gordon, 50, met by chance in a North London incense shop in 2014. The couple went off the radar from her friends and family and formed their own self-styled cult living apart from society, with Constance even posing as an Irish traveller when she attended hospital while pregnant. Their life on the edge ended in the tragic death of their fifth child, new-born baby Victoria, after their four previous children were taken into care amid allegations of domestic violence by Gordon. Constance had an idyllic early childhood growing up with her three younger siblings at Grade II listed Crichel House, set on a 5,000-acre estate near Wimborne, Dorset. But two key events left Constance traumatised and vulnerable before she fell for Gordon. When Constance was nine, her father Napier, a former page boy to the late Queen, left his wife Virginie de Selliers, and children to become a nomadic hippie travelling the globe. He spoke about an out-of-body experience while with a group of Aborigines on a cliff-top and an encounter with whales in Hawaii that made him cry 'almost non-stop' for a week. The family estate passed on to oldest son Maximillian, who sold the house and part of the estate to an American hedge fund owner for £34 million in 2013, leaving Constance devastated. Constance broke down as she gave evidence at her trial about a 'traumatic childhood event' and the sale of Crichel House against her grandmother's stated wishes in her will. The second disturbing experience came when Constance was 19 and she attended a Nigerian Christian sect with her devoutly religious mother after leaving RC girls' school St Mary's Shaftesbury, in Dorset. Harrowing moment cop find remains of Constance Marten's baby Victoria stuffed in Lidl bag filled with rubbish Constance spent six months with the Synagogue, Church of All Nations, in Lagos, living under the dictatorial rule of televangelist Temitope Balogun 'TB' Joshua. She and other white people at the sect's compound were humiliated by the guru, forced to eat his leftovers and placed in social exile for not being subservient enough to him or talking about their past. Constance was forced to call cult chief TB Joshua 'Daddy' and told Cosmopolitan magazine in 2013: 'The leader looked me in the eye and said, 'Your family doesn't matter anymore. I'm your father now.'' This comes as... Constance Marten and lover found GUILTY over death of baby daughter after living off-grid in freezing temps while on run Chilling footage shows Marten and partner Mark Gordon after they dumped their newborn baby's pram Gordon revealed to be an evil rapist 'Wealthy' Marten and Gordon used trust money for cabs while evading cops – but baby had no clothes before death The harrowing moment cops find remains of baby Victoria stuffed in a Lidl bag filled with rubbish A national safeguarding panel is now looking at the case as police have called for new laws to protect unborn children Writer Matthew McNaught, who investigated the church and spoke to Constance about her ordeal, told The Sun: 'She struggled afterwards in the same way as all the other disciples. 'She found it a very traumatic time, especially the fact it was a very controlling environment.' After Constance returned to the UK, she attended Leeds University, initially studying Philosophy before switching to Arabic, Middle Eastern History and Islamic Studies. Friends at the time remember her as a vivacious, talented and charismatic globe-trotting party girl. In 2008, aged 22, she appeared on Tatler magazine's 'Babe of the Month' page. In an accompanying interview, she recalled her privileged childhood growing up at Crichel House with 'days of naked picnics, siestas amid hail bails and tractor scoops.' Revealing a rebel streak, Constance said she loved drinking cider and wanted to get a tortoise tattooed on the bottom of her foot. The best party she had ever been to, she recalled, was at the home of Viscount Cranborne in Dorset. She said: 'There was a gambling tent and bunches of grapes hanging from the walls. It was like a debauched feast from Ancient Greece.' 10 Constance also travelled the world and went to festivals including Burning Man and Wireless, saying: 'Dance is my oxygen.' She spent her summer holidays in 2010 working for a film production company in Cairo. One of her colleagues there described her as being 'very decent, nice and friendly' and having 'great potential'. But she added that Constance sometimes chose the 'wrong' type of man, adding: 'She was somehow gullible.' Constance graduated with a 2.1 in June 2012 and moved to London but struggled to establish herself in any long-term jobs. She became a researcher for Qatar-owned news channel Al-Jazeera, and took a journalism course in 2014. Then she met Mark Gordon at an incense shop in Tottenham, North London, in 2014. Birmingham-born Gordon had moved to the US as a child and served a 20-year jail sentence for a brutal rape in Florida he carried out when aged 14. He was deported back to Britain in 2010 and worked as a labourer and lived in Ilford, East London. 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. 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 12, 2023 Marten is captured buying snacks and petrol with cash but there was no sign of the baby. Prosecutors say she bought the fuel to cremate the baby but changed her mind. 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. Describing the chance encounter with Gordon, Constance told jurors: 'There was a lady who left her handbag. 'The shopkeeper knew me, she said can you watch over him [Gordon]. We laughed about it. I saw him later and went to a coffee shop. We were good friends then we went travelling together.' In 2015, Constance joined the East 15 Acting School where friends said they heard about her boyfriend but never met him. They said she became increasingly erratic before dropping out after a year. Constance' last picture on social media showed her dancing at an electronic music event in East London in June 2016, just before she vanished. It later emerged she had married Gordon that year in Peru, in a ceremony not legally recognised in the UK. Her mum hired a private investigator for two weeks in October 2016 to find her, and her dad hired one in 2017 and again in 2021. Living off her trust fund allowance of £2,500-a-month, later raised to £3,400, Constance and Gordon travelled across Britain, sleeping in tents and cheap lodgings and regularly swapping cars and burner phones in a deluded attempt to escape from her family's private detectives. She fell pregnant with her first child in 2017 , prompting a London hospital to raise concerns as she had not received antenatal care. In September that year, a national hospital alert was issued to find the couple. They had fled to Wales and were sleeping in a festival-style tent, with bin bags of clothes and bottles of urine at the entrance. Constance appeared at a Welsh hospital with Gordon in winter 2017, both using fake names. She put on a fake Irish accent saying she was a traveller without a GP or NHS number and that she was no longer with her unborn's father. But they were found out and social services alerted. Constance said: 'I made a pact with the devil.' 10 10 In spring 2018, the couple turned up out of the blue at a flat in Llanelli, North Wales, with their first baby and a pram stuffed with more than £10,000 in cash. Landlady Guiseppine Allegri told how Constance paid up front for two flats - one for her, and one for Mark across the road. She told The Sun: 'They came from nowhere one day. She had a baby in the pram. The baby was covered in bags and bags and bags. They were hiding the baby.' Guiseppine told them babies were not allowed but bent the rules for them after Constance insisted 'he's awfully good'. The landlady provided an insight into the couple's relationship, saying of Gordon: 'He was very possessive and controlling of Constance. It was him who spoke all the time. 'I told her to go back to her family. I couldn't see why she was with him. He was so creepy. But she thought Mark was the best thing. 'Constance told me he was an honourable and good man. But she said he had difficulties and had been abused as a child.' She said Gordon never worked during the six months he was in the flat, and Marten paid for everything. Guiseppine added: 'He was very domineering. He was the boss. There was never a smile on him, never an honest smile. He had an angry smile.' The couple left in a rush in a van with two men who said the couple went to Birmingham. Guiseppine said they left around £350 of damage caused by candles and joss sticks, adding: 'I think they were running away.' There is no record of Constance and Gordon in Birmingham but they later ended up in a house in Ley Street in Ilford, East London. Their first child had a bouncy castle in his room, and Constance complained about having to find other ways to get money because she was getting less from the family trust. Neighbours said the couple rarely left the house during daylight and that paranoid Gordon installed a CCTV camera as soon as they arrived. One told The Sun: 'Sometimes we saw them coming and going at night but they were not neighbourly. 'Social services came at times to knock but they didn't open the door. They came again and again.' Constance conceived their second child while at the house but in November 2019, while five weeks pregnant, Constance fell from a window rupturing her spleen after apparently being pushed by Gordon. 10 10 Gordon initially refused to let paramedics into their home and during later care proceedings, Gordon was blamed for the incident. Constance told police she had fallen while trying to adjust the TV aerial outside the window, but officers found the TV had a blanket over it and was not in use. No further action was taken and Constance tried to discharge herself from the hospital. Constance then took the children to Ireland on her own and tried to find a house to pay in cash to stay in. Her father applied for ward of court proceedings and Constance attended a police station before the two children were taken into care. A separation order was made when Constance refused to go into a residential unit when her third child was born. Constance and Gordon regularly failed to attend contact sessions, claiming social workers were lying about them. And she hid behind a door to hide her fourth pregnancy from an unplanned social worker visit in 2021. But in February 2021, a judge ordered the four children should be adopted. Then in early 2022, she fell pregnant with Victoria. The couple hid the pregnancy and frequently moved between local authorities so none would have jurisdiction over her. They moved between AirBnBs in Sheffield and Leeds weeks before going on the run. Constance was missing when Constance' brother Max married jewellery designer Ruth Aymer in a high society wedding featured in Vogue magazine, in September that year. Their father Napier was also absent. On January 5 2023, days after Victoria's birth, Constance and Gordon were making plans to leave the country. They were driving along the M62 in Manchester when their Peugeot 208 caught fire and they ran, leaving £2,000 cash, her passport, her card and placenta. Constance told the court their plan 'disintegrated' from this point, spiralling into one of Britain's biggest manhunts which ended when Victoria was found dead in a disused allotment shed.
Telegraph
29-05-2025
- General
- Telegraph
Constance Marten's boyfriend is convicted rapist, court told
The partner of wealthy aristocrat Constance Marten was convicted of raping a woman in the United States when he was 14-years-old and received a prison sentence of 40 years, jurors have heard. Marten, 38, and Mark Gordon, 50, are charged with the manslaughter of their baby daughter Victoria, who died in a tent on the South Downs in early 2023. Prosecutor Tom Little KC told jurors at the Old Bailey on Thursday that in 1989, Gordon, then aged 14, held a woman against her will in Florida for more than four hours and raped her while armed with a 'knife and hedge clippers'. Within a month, he entered another property and carried out another offence involving 'aggravated battery', Mr Little said. Jurors were told that, in February 1994, Gordon received a sentence of 40 years' imprisonment, of which he served 22 years. Mr Little told jurors that the first set of offences occurred on April 29 1989 in Florida and consisted of one offence of armed kidnapping, four offences of sexual assault and one offence of armed burglary. Discussing the offences, Mr Little asked Det Sgt Ian Valentine: 'Did he break into the house of a next-door neighbour? Before doing so, did he place a nylon stocking over his face to conceal his identity?' Giving evidence, Det Sgt Valentine replied: 'Yes.' Mr Little also asked the officer: 'Was he armed with a knife and hedge clippers?' Det Sgt Valentine replied: 'Yes.' Mr Little asked the officer: 'Did he demand that the female in the property undress?' Det Sgt Valentine replied: 'Yes.' The prosecutor also asked the officer: 'Did he attempt to vaginally rape her?', 'did he orally rape her and perform other sexual assault offences?' and 'was that female held by him for a period of four-and half-hours against her will in the property?' Det Sgt Valentine replied 'yes' to all the questions. 'Armed with flat-headed shovel' Mr Little said Gordon's second set of offences occurred on May 21 1989 and consisted of armed burglary and aggravated battery at a property occupied by a family while armed with a 'flat-headed shovel'. The prosecutor asked the officer: 'Once inside the property, did he beat a male occupant with a shovel about the head?' Det Sgt Valentine replied: 'Yes.' While cross-examining the police officer, Gordon said the convictions took place 'due to human rights violations', he had not been supervised in police interviews relating to them and that he had challenged the convictions while in custody. Earlier this week, jurors heard that Gordon had pleaded guilty to assaulting two police officers who had been called to a maternity ward in Wales in 2017 after Marten gave birth to one of Victoria's older siblings. Gordon had to be forcibly restrained during the incident and a new father had stepped in to help the two female officers before more police arrived to arrest him. In his evidence last week, Gordon, who is representing himself, made no reference to his troubled past but told jurors: 'Everybody faces challenges in life.' He said his mother was a hard-working nurse who was passionate and empathetic and had instilled compassion in him. Gordon said: 'The idea I was underprivileged was not the case. My mother had two or three houses. She always provided for us. She showed me empathy.' In his earlier evidence, Gordon blamed the police manhunt for setting off a series of 'calamitous' events culminating in Victoria's death. He insisted that he and Marten 'put ourselves out' to ensure the baby's wellbeing and 'no-one could have anticipated' her death. In an emotional outburst in the witness box, Gordon had complained they were treated like 'monsters' and dragged through the mud like 'scum' over what happened and had not had time to grieve for their child. Private investigators group engaged Agreed facts were also read to the jury, which included that Virginie de Selliers, Marten's mother, engaged the private investigators group, London Security Group Limited, to trace her daughter in 2016. Jurors were also told that Marten's father, Napier Marten, approached the same firm and a 'tracing company' called CSM Partners Limited to approach Gordon in 2017. Ms De Selliers also instructed a firm of private investigators called Blackstone Consultancy in 2021 to locate Marten and Gordon. Jurors were also told that on Dec 17 2019, Mrs Justice Judd sitting in the England and Wales High Court Family Division made an order, following an application by Napier Marten, that Marten and Gordon's two children were made wards of the court and their parents prohibited from moving them out of the jurisdiction of the court. The wardship proceedings finished in January 2020, meaning the order was not in force from that date. Details of cash withdrawals from Marten's bank accounts from December 2022 to February 2023 were also revealed to the jury. A high-profile manhunt was launched after the defendants fled their burning car near Bolton, Greater Manchester, and went off-grid in a bid to avoid their fifth child being taken into care, the Old Bailey has heard. The prosecution had alleged Victoria died from hypothermia or was smothered while co-sleeping in a 'flimsy' tent, despite past warnings. Her body was discovered with rubbish inside a shopping bag in a disused shed near Brighton after the defendants were arrested. In her evidence, Marten told jurors that the baby died after she 'blacked out' and fell asleep over her after feeding her. Marten and Gordon, of no fixed address, have denied the gross negligence manslaughter of their daughter and causing or allowing her death between Jan 4 and Feb 27 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.
Times
27-05-2025
- General
- Times
Constance Marten's partner assaulted police in maternity ward
The boyfriend of an aristocrat on trial over the death of their fifth baby was convicted of assaulting two female police officers hours after the birth of their first child, the Old Bailey was told. Mark Gordon, 50, and Constance Marten, 38, deny the gross negligence manslaughter of baby Victoria while on the run from police and living in a tent in 2023. Six years earlier police were called by maternity staff at a hospital in Wales who were concerned about the identity of the new parents, the court was told. When she arrived at the hospital in labour Marten used the name Isabella O'Brien, spoke with a fake Irish accent, and claimed to be from the travelling community and living in a caravan. She was accompanied by Gordon, using the name James Amer, who she said was a friend and not the father. Gordon, who is representing himself after his lawyers withdrew from the case, objected to evidence being given about the assaults. 'It is a statement I do not agree with,' he said. 'It is not real evidence. It is perspective.' The jury was read a 'memorandum of conviction' from a magistrates' court that recorded Gordon pleading guilty to assaulting two police officers in the execution of their duties. Detective Sergeant Delma Jones told the court she was called with PC Sian Beynon to the postnatal ward of the hospital, which cannot be identified for legal reasons. Jones said they took Gordon to a side room where he was asked several times for his name and date of birth. He said he was James Amer, born on April 31, 1987. When the officer pointed out that April has only 30 days, Gordon started 'rocking back and forward in the chair and muttering that he was confused'. He then 'started pacing back and forward and clenching his fists', the court was told. 'His behaviour completely changed and he clearly did not know what to do with himself,' said Jones. 'I suggested he calmed down and sat down.' Jones said that Gordon pushed Beynon to the side before assaulting them both. 'We both had to restrain him and put our feet in front of the door to stop him opening the door as he clearly wanted to escape,' Jones said. 'Mr Gordon opened the door and freed himself from our grasp and started running up to where his partner and baby were. We took took hold of him again and at that point I fell to the floor and my shoes came off. We were telling him to calm down. We were quite concerned at what he was capable of.' 'He was trying to escape. He was continuing to walk away but we had hold of him.' Jones said that Benyon 'deployed' her pepper spray in Gordon's face three times. The father of another newborn helped to restrain Gordon for ten minutes until other officers arrived. Gordon pleaded guilty to assault two days later. Jones said she suffered bruising and cuts on her hands. Gordon listened to the evidence from the dock, often with his eyes closed and shaking his head. He told the court: 'That is not an accurate reflection of what occurred.' Jones, under questioning by Gordon, confirmed that she realised she was giving evidence under oath and denied that 'sometimes you embellish things a little bit'. Gordon commented: 'My memory serves me a little bit differently, because I have nothing to hide … as the jury heard, I do not not mind them hearing the truth, I like the truth.' Jones, who has been a police officer for 20 years, said later: 'I remember it very well. This was the [strangest] incident I have dealt with.' The couple claim they went on the run to prevent Victoria being taken into care like their four other children. When Gordon gave evidence he accused Marten's wealthy family of harassing them with private detectives because they disapproved of their relationship. Victoria was born on Christmas Eve 2022. A nationwide hunt began after a placenta was discovered in the family's burnt-out car on January 5, 2023. The couple ended up living in a tent in the South Downs outside Newhaven, East Sussex, where Victoria died. The trial continues.
