Marten and Gordon jailed 14 years each over newborn Victoria's death

Constance Marten, 38, and her partner Mark Gordon, 51, were jailed for 14 years each on Monday after a judge at the Old Bailey found they had caused the death of their newborn daughter, Victoria, while living off grid during a nationwide manhunt in early 2023. The pair were convicted in July of manslaughter by gross negligence, and were also found guilty of concealing the birth, child cruelty and perverting the course of justice.

Prosecutors told the court the couple went on the run to prevent social services from taking Victoria into care after four older children had already been removed. Marten gave birth in secret on Christmas Eve 2022 in a hired holiday cottage, the court heard, and in January 2023 the pair travelled around England and sheltered in a flimsy tent on the South Downs during freezing conditions. Police launched a nationwide search after their car was found ablaze on the M61 near Bolton on January 5 and a placenta was recovered wrapped in a towel inside the vehicle.

After about seven weeks on the run the couple were arrested in Brighton. Officers conducting a desperate search later found Victoria's decomposed body wrapped in a pink sheet and hidden inside a Lidl...