Aristocrat Disappeared with Baby — Then Child Froze to Death and Was Left in Shopping Bag By Christine Pelisek

An aristocrat and her boyfriend were sentenced to 14 years in jail for gross negligence manslaughter in connection with the death of their newborn daughter while they were on the run.

Constance Marten, 38, and Mark Gordon, 51, were sentenced on Monday, Sept. 15 in the death of their daughter Victoria, whose decomposing remains were discovered inside a shopping bag in Brighton, England in 2023, BBC reported.

“It is clear … neither of you gave much or any thought for the care or love for your baby,” Judge Mark Lucraft KC said during sentencing, per The Guardian. “What you did towards baby Victoria can only be described as neglect; neglect of the gravest and most serious type. There has been no genuine expression of remorse from either of you.”

The couple was also previously found guilty of child cruelty, concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice in an earlier trial, according to the outlet.

The couple disappeared after four of their children were removed by social workers, BBC reported.

A 53-day nationwide manhunt ensued after authorities found the duo’s car on fire on Jan. 5, 2023, and learned based upon evidence at the scene that Marten had recently given birth to Victoria, per the Guardian.

The couple traveled around southern England to avoid authorities and ended up sleeping in a tent on the South Downs where authorities said the infant died from hypothermia, according to BBC.

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Victoria’s body was later found in a disused shed in Brighton inside a shopping bag, the outlet reported.

The couple alleged the infant died by accident after Marten fell asleep on her, per The Guardian.

To the judge, Marten’s attorney said: “The sorrow Constance Marten feels is incalculable.”

“She has accepted from an early stage that her baby died because of something she did, that fact weighs heavily on her conscience and will do for the rest of her life,” he said, per The Times.

Gordon’s attorney said that the removal of Gordon’s children from his and Marten’s custody “caused a great deal of upset and anxiety and it was traumatic.”

“He says that the children being taken away affected everything, affected their whole lives and they were suffering a trauma, and he accepts that poor decisions were made which he very much regrets,” she said, according to The Times. “He said he will live with this for the remainder of his life.”

Gordon received an additional four years on extended license after being deemed more likely to reoffend, per the outlet.

According to The Guardian, he had previously spent 20 years in prison in the U.S. for raping a woman while armed with a knife and hedge clippers when he was 14 years old.