The shocking story of UK aristocrat and her partner, jailed for 14 years for killing their newborn

In a shocking development, a couple in the United Kingdom has been jailed for well over a decade each for killing their newborn. Constance Marten and Mark Gordon, who went on the run from authorities for months with their infant, Victoria, were each sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Victoria’s body was found in a rubbish bin in Brighton in 2023. The couple went on the run after authorities took their other four children from them.

The couple has been tried twice – in 2024 and again in July 2025. They were convicted of gross negligence manslaughter, child cruelty, concealing the birth of their daughter, and perverting the course of justice.

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Let’s take a look at their shocking tale.

Who are they?

First, let’s take a brief look at who they are.

Marten, 38, is a white woman who hails from an aristocratic family with connections to the British Royal Family. She is said to have told friends that she played with Harry and William when they were children.

Called “Toots” by her friends, Marten grew up at Crichel House, an 18th-century Georgian estate in Dorset. Her father, Napier Marten, is an aristocrat. His mother played with Princess Margaret and was goddaughter of the Queen Mother.

Marten attended an expensive and exclusive public school in Shaftesbury. She later went to the University of Leeds, where she studied Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies. She was featured in society magazine Tatler as the “babe of the month”. She was 21 years old. She told the magazine her favourite spot was the top of the Matterhorn mountain in the Alps. She said her favourite party was “ Viscount Cranborne’s party in Dorset – the theme was the Feast of Bacchus”.

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Marten called herself a freelance journalist and photographer. She even took an acting course. But in 2016, things changed quickly. She distanced herself from her friends and family. Classmates said this happened after a new man entered her life.

Gordon, on the other hand, at 51, is well over a decade older than Marten. A Black man, he is the son of a nurse who emigrated to the United Kingdom from the Caribbean. He came to the UK when he was 12 years old. While the court was told he came from an underprivileged background, Gordon insisted that was not the case. “My mother had two or three houses. She always provided for us. She showed me empathy,” Gordon said.

But that didn’t stop Gordon from having a long rap sheet. In 1989, Gordon was convicted of holding a woman hostage with a knife and hedge clippers and violently raping her. He was 14 years old at the time. The victim called Gordon a “psychopath”. She said, “The four-and-a-half hours I spent with him was enough to know he is evil.” In all, he has been convicted of four sexual assaults as well as kidnapping, burglary and battery.

Gordon and Marten meet

Gordon was sent to prison in the United States, where he served 22 years. After his release, he was deported back to the UK and placed on the sex offenders register. Gordon and Marten are said to have met in 2014 at an incense shop. Marten’s family is said to have met Gordon soon after and remained unconvinced about his suitability for her.

Marten and Gordon claim to have married in a 2016 ceremony in Peru; however, this is not considered legally binding. By 2017, the couple were backpacking across South America. By the time they returned to the United Kingdom, Marten was pregnant with their first child. This is when concerns about their suitability as parents began.

Marten first arrived at an antenatal unit in London while pregnant, having had no prior care. She told staff that she and Gordon were living in a camper van. Then, the couple disappeared, which caused a national hospital alert to be issued. Later that year, Marten turned up at a hospital in Wales while heavily pregnant and sporting a fake Irish accent. She told the nurses that she and Gordon were living in a tent near a supermarket car park – and was warned that this was not suitable.

Staff, who thought Marten was paranoid, called the police. Gordon ended up assaulting the two female police officers who turned up. He was subdued by the officers, with help from other fathers. Gordon was arrested and pleaded guilty to assault charges. He spent 20 weeks in prison while Marten gave birth to their first child. Marten and the baby were then placed in foster care.

But things didn’t improve. Marten was found with bottles of wine in her room and repeatedly warned about falling asleep with the baby on her chest. The courts then ordered social services to monitor the baby’s wellbeing. By 2018, the couple had returned to London. They lived at several addresses and often left without paying the rent. Neither appeared to have a job. Neighbours often said they overheard the couple screaming at each other.

Things take a darker turn

Things took a darker turn in November 2019, when Marten fell out of a first-floor window while pregnant with their third child. The fall left her with a shattered spleen. Marten had to spend eight days in hospital. Worse, Gordon initially refused to allow paramedics to treat her. Authorities suspected it was a case of domestic violence, which the couple denied. Marten told police she fell while trying to fix a TV aerial. However, a judge later ruled that Gordon caused the fall.

In the meantime, another family judge had ruled against the couple. The judge found that they had “deliberately evaded the local authority in late 2019 when it was carrying out an investigation into the wellbeing of the children”.

He also determined that the living arrangements for the children “fell well below what a reasonable parent would be expected to provide”. Marten then fled with her children to Ireland. When she returned, the children were taken into foster care. After Marten gave birth, their fourth child was also removed from their care.

By September 2022, Marten was pregnant with Victoria. Afraid that the authorities would remove their fifth baby from their custody too, the couple fled. They spent months on the run, living in Airbnbs. Meanwhile, authorities had launched a nationwide manhunt. The couple ended up living in a flimsy tent in East Sussex in January 2023. It was winter – conditions were cold and windy. It was here that Victoria died. Marten said she fell asleep breastfeeding Victoria and that the baby was blue. They tried to revive her, but had no luck.

That same month, police found Gordon and Marten’s car aflame and abandoned in Bolton. A placenta wrapped in a towel was also discovered – a tell-tale sign that Marten had given birth again. Later that month, authorities made a public appeal after the couple were spotted in London.

The authorities announced that Gordon was a sex offender and that they were worried about baby Victoria. Soon after, the couple were arrested in Brighton after authorities were tipped off by a member of the public. Victoria’s body was not with them. In fact, her body was discovered two days later in a rubbish bin in Brighton.

The trials

Gordon and Marten were put on trial by the authorities in January 2024. They were convicted of concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice. However, a retrial was ordered on the charges where jurors could not reach a verdict.

The retrial in July was a media circus, with Gordon sacking his legal team multiple times and ultimately representing himself. The couple also created havoc and disruptions in court, much to the judge’s displeasure. They seemed more interested in talking to each other than listening to the proceedings. Gordon and Marten were ultimately found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter and sentenced to a combined nearly 30 years in prison.