Officers found the remains of little girl Constance Marten stuffed into a Lidl bin bag – under a table covered in expired milk.
The horror moment was caught on police body cameras, a few days after the aristocrat and her partner Mark Gordon (49) refused to tell them where the newborn Victoria was.
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The moment of horror when police found baby Constance Marten was caught on camera
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The remains of newborn Victoria were found in an abandoned shed in Brighton
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Police made the tragic revelation days after Marten and partner Mark Gordon refused to say where their baby was
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Marten sobbed in court today as her interview was playedCredit: PA
Shocking footage was shown today at the Old Bailey, where the pair are on trial.
On February 27 last year, police followed Marten and Gordon all the way to Brighton, but they would not say where their baby was.
Tragically, Victoria was already dead after her parents went “off the grid” – living in a “thin and flimsy” tent in the dead of winter.
The police officer who found her has now described in detail the harrowing moment that took place on March 1 last year.
PC Allen Ralph, who was sent from Scotland Yard to help with the search, said he noticed the distinctive Lidl bag on CCTV before joining the case.
In body camera footage on the day of the horrific find, he can be seen approaching an abandoned shed near where the couple lived on the property.
There, PC Ralph noticed a broken window and lifted the door to enter.
He recalled the smell, telling the court: “I remember saying ‘either there’s something dead in there or something’s died’.”
Inside the computer, other police officers also found expired milk and bread on the table, and a supermarket bag under them.
He then told one of his fellow officers that he was sure he had noticed the Lidl bag before and that they should search it.
A moment the policemen ask Constance Marten ‘where is your child?’ after she ‘killed a newborn while on the run with her lover’
PC Ralph told jurors: “I picked it up and it was heavy and there was no reason for it to be heavy from what I could see inside.
“I distinctly remember that there was just a lot of trash.”
Inside, two baby diapers, a pink baby blanket, drink cans, cardboard, leaves and other trash could be seen.
But one of his colleagues said they could see what looked like a doll’s head.
PC Ralph continued: “The head was to the left. It was concave, the top of the head. That’s what we touched.
“I unrolled it two or three times before I got to the part where I could see the red shrinkage.
“A few seconds after that we went to the right side. I put my hand down. My hand slipped on something. I looked and it was the baby’s leg. My hand was completely wet.”
I remember saying ‘either something is dead there or something has died’.
PC Allen Ralph
He said the baby was “very pale” and “very cold” to the touch.
Marten sobbed in court today as the beginning of her police interview was played after the baby was found.
She began to cry in the interview after confirming the baby was hers, before telling police: “Her name was Victoria.”
The 36-year-old also told police she refers to Gordon as her husband.
The court previously heard how the couple fled with their newborn daughter after their car caught fire on a motorway in Bolton on January 5 last year.
This sparked a nationwide manhunt, as the couple went and lived “off the grid” until they were arrested weeks later.
The couple deny manslaughter, concealing the birth of a child, cruelty to a person under 16 and perverting the course of justice.
They also deny causing or allowing the death of a child, an alternative charge of murder, between January 4 and February 27 last year.
The trial continues.
Timeline of ‘killing’ babies – how a couple evaded the cops
CONSTANCE Marten and Mark Gordon reportedly launched a 54-day manhunt across the UK after they disappeared with their baby Victoria.
Here’s how this couple’s journey began…
December 20, 2022
Marten and Gordon have booked a holiday cottage in Northumberland and the rental is due to end on Christmas Day. The owner told jurors he found the property in “some disrepair” on Dec. 28.
December 24, 2022
The couple claims their daughter was born on this day, but prosecutors disputed that.
December 28, 2022
Their Suzuki broke down on the M18 so the driver took them to a nearby Sainsbury’s. There was reportedly no sign of the baby, but the rear and side windows of the car were blocked by clothing.
January 4, 2023
Marten and Gordon checked into the Ibis Hotel in Lymm Services, Cheshire, and later the AC Hotel in Manchester.
January 5, 2023
The pair’s Peugeot 206 caught fire on the M61 in Greater Manchester. Police launched an emergency investigation after finding the placenta, 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 they are seen on CCTV at the nearby Bolton Interchange station.
The pair allegedly used Marten’s trust for a taxi to Liverpool, then a £400 taxi to Harwich, Essex.
Taxi driver Ali Yaryar, who picked up the couple from Liverpool, told the court: “I don’t think the baby had any clothes on”.
January 6, 2023
The couple arrive in Harwich and check into the Premier Inn at around 3am. They later moved to the Fryatt Hotel, where they paid in cash, it said.
January 7, 2023
Marten and Gordon travel by taxi to Colchester, then East Ham, London. The couple reportedly buy a pram from Argos and then take another taxi to Whitechapel.
They ate at a Brick Lane restaurant and then dumped the new buggy – choosing to keep Victoria in a Lidl bag instead, jurors heard.
January 8, 2023
The couple spent £475 on a taxi from Hornsey to Newhaven in East Sussex and a walk to the South Downs National Park. Kuna buys snacks and gasoline 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 the day – making her 16 days old, the court was told. That said, there is no way to know for sure.
January 16, 2023
Marten and Gordon were seen setting up a tent at Stanmer Park Nature Reserve in the South Downs despite the cold weather.
16/17 February 2023
The couple were spotted near Hollingbury Golf Course in rural Sussex, allegedly pushing a pram without their child. Their tent was later seen in Coldean Lane, Brighton
A driver saw the pair walking towards Stanmer Park with something under Marten’s puffer jacket, the court heard.
February 19, 2023
Gordon and Marten were reportedly seen in their tent in the park with a very young baby with a “wobbly” head. Jurors said the baby had no socks, blanket or hat.
February 27, 2023
The pair were arrested in Hollingbury Place, Brighton, but did not initially reveal Victoria’s location, it was said.
March 1, 2023
Tragic Victoria was found dead in a Lidl bag covered in rubbish inside a derelict shed “like rubbish”, a court was told.
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She and partner Mark Gordan are currently on trial at the Old Bailey
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: newstars.edu.vn