Baby K.i.l.l.e.r Constance Marten Wins Shock Permission to Appeal 14-Year Sentence After Newborn D.i.e.d in Freezing Tent During Nationwide Manhunt with Rapist Lover
Constance Marten, the 39-year-old aristocrat convicted of the gross negligence manslaughter of her newborn daughter, has been granted permission to appeal her 14-year prison sentence. The development comes nearly a year after she and her partner, Mark Gordon, were jailed for the death of baby Victoria while they were on the run from authorities.
Marten and Gordon, a convicted rapist, went into hiding in late 2022 and early 2023 to prevent social services from taking their fifth child into care. Their previous four children had already been removed by the family courts over serious concerns for the children’s safety. Marten gave birth to Victoria in secret around Christmas 2022. Shortly afterwards, the couple abandoned a burning car on a motorway near Bolton that contained evidence of a recent birth, triggering one of the most extensive police manhunts in recent British history.
For more than seven weeks the pair moved across England, avoiding detection by using taxis, cash and off-grid locations. They eventually settled in a thin, flimsy tent on the South Downs in freezing winter conditions. Victoria died there. The judge later accepted that the baby died from hypothermia caused by prolonged exposure to significant cold stress. The couple claimed the death was a tragic accident involving co-sleeping, but the court rejected that account.
Police arrested Marten and Gordon in Brighton in late February 2023. Two days later officers discovered Victoria’s decomposed remains inside a shopping bag hidden under rubbish in a nearby shed. The couple had failed to report the birth or the death and had taken steps to conceal both.
After a lengthy first trial, a jury convicted them of concealing the birth of a child, perverting the course of justice and child cruelty, but could not reach a verdict on the manslaughter charge. A retrial followed. In July 2025 both were found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter. On 15 September 2025, Judge Mark Lucraft KC sentenced each to 14 years’ imprisonment. Gordon received an additional four years on extended licence because of his previous violent offending. Both must serve at least two-thirds of the custodial term before release on licence. Concurrent sentences were also imposed for the other offences.
At sentencing the judge described their conduct as neglect of the gravest and most serious type. He said neither parent had shown genuine remorse and that they had focused on themselves rather than the welfare of their vulnerable newborn. The court noted that the pair had ignored previous warnings from the family courts.
Marten has now been given permission to challenge the length of her sentence. She has also renewed her application for permission to appeal the manslaughter conviction itself. The precise grounds for the appeals have not been publicly detailed, and no hearing date has yet been fixed. Gordon’s position on any further appeals remains separate.
The case has prompted a national child safeguarding review examining how agencies respond when parents whose children have already been removed refuse to engage with services and go on to have further babies. Victoria’s short life and preventable death continue to raise difficult questions about risk, parental rights and the limits of state intervention.
Marten remains in custody serving her sentence while the appeal process proceeds.
