The partner of an aristocrat said that his partner was “experiencing extreme trauma” after the birth of her daughter, a court has heard.
Mark Gordon called Constance Marten an “excellent mother” who “wouldn’t hurt a child under any circumstances”.
He also told police officers in an interview that Marten was “not to blame” for their daughter’s death after the couple were at the centre of a national manhunt.
The couple are currently on trial for gross negligence manslaughter after the body of their baby daughter was found in a Lidl “bag for life” in a Brighton allotment.
In a police interview transcript read by Tom Little KC, prosecuting, Gordon said: "The fact is I love her [Marten] very much and she was not to blame at all because she was in post-traumatic stress.
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“My wife was experiencing extreme trauma.
"She is a very special woman and wouldn't do anything to harm a child under any circumstances.
"She is an excellent mother. The baby was taken care of.”
The court heard that Marten and Gordon’s baby daughter, named Victoria, was the couple’s fifth child. Their previous four children were all taken into care by social services.
Gordon repeatedly told detectives interviewing him that he loved his wife, adding that he would “do anything for her”.
He also recounted the death of his baby daughter, calling it “the most harrowing experience” and “one of the worst things I have ever seen”.
The court heard yesterday that Marten told officers that her and Gordon were married in Peru but that the marriage was not recognised in the UK.
The couple were arrested in Golf Drive in Hollingbury, Brighton, in February, 2023 after a seven week long national manhunt which took them to Bolton, Liverpool, London and Newhaven.
Marten, 36, and Gordon, 49, are charged with gross negligence manslaughter, concealing the birth of a child, causing of allowing the death of a child, child cruelty and perverting the course of justice. They deny all of the charges.
Gordon, wearing a blue shirt and dark blue tie, and Marten, wearing a pink jumper, watched on from the dock.
The trial at the Old Bailey continues.
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