Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Couple to face retrial over baby daughter's death

A judge at London’s Old Bailey court discharged a jury because it was unable to reach a verdict after more than 70 hours of deliberation

Couple to face retrial over baby daughter's death

A woman from an aristocratic family is to face a re-trial with her partner for manslaughter after their newborn daughter died while they were living off-grid in freezing temperatures.

Constance Marten, 36, and her partner Mark Gordon, 49, were arrested after a seven-week police hunt in January and February last year during which they spent time living in a tent.


A judge at London's Old Bailey court last week discharged a jury because it was unable to reach a verdict after more than 70 hours of deliberation.

Prosecutor Tom Little on Wednesday told the court that the Crown Prosecution Service would seek a retrial. Judge Mark Lucraft fixed a date for March 3 next year.

He also lifted reporting restrictions that the jury had found Marten and Gordon guilty of concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice.

Marten and Gordon, who have denied all the charges against them, went on the run in January 2023 after police found a placenta in their burnt-out car by a motorway outside Manchester in northwest England.

Marten had told the court they absconded because they wanted to keep their daughter Victoria, after her other four children were taken into care.

The couple was eventually arrested nearly two months later, in Brighton on England's southern coast.

Days later, Victoria's badly decomposed body was found in a shopping bag on a vegetable patch.

But taking the witness stand Marten, whose family has historic ties to the royal family, insisted she and Gordon were loving parents.

"Mark and I love our kids more than anything in the world," she told the court. "I did nothing but show her love."

The couple, of no fixed address, have also faced charges of child cruelty and causing or allowing the death of a child which they denied.

Marten had told police Victoria died when she fell asleep in the tent while holding her under her jacket. (AFP)

More For You

Sunita-Williams-Reuters

Sunita Williams was part of the SpaceX Crew-9 mission and had been stranded in space for over nine months. (Photo: Reuters)

Reuters)

India looks amazing from space, says Sunita Williams

NASA astronaut Sunita Williams described India as "amazing" from space and expressed her intention to visit her "father's home country" to share her experiences on space exploration.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, she responded to a question about how India appeared from space and the possibility of collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Keep ReadingShow less
british-muslims-iStock

The study noted that this identification was not due to any doctrinal obligation but was influenced by the perception that many Muslims do not feel fully accepted as British. (Representational image: iStock)

iStock

Majority of British Muslims identify by faith first, study finds

A STUDY by the Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life (IIFL) has found that most British Muslims identify primarily with their religion rather than their nationality.

The research, based on a survey of 815 British Muslim adults by Whitestone Insight, revealed that 71 per cent of respondents identified as Muslim first, while 27 per cent identified as British, English, or Scottish first.

Keep ReadingShow less
Car Tax Changes: EV Owners Now Required to Pay for the First Time

Owners of electric vehicles registered on or after 1 April 2025 will pay £10 for the first year, followed by the standard VED rate of £195 from the second year. (Representational image: iStock)

iStock

Car tax changes take effect: EV owners to pay for first time

FROM today, 1 April 2025, electric cars, vans, and motorcycles in the UK will be subject to Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) for the first time.

The change, introduced in the 2022 Autumn Statement by former Conservative Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, aims to make motoring taxation fairer.

Keep ReadingShow less
scotland-minimum-wages-iStock

Full-time workers on the National Living Wage will receive an annual pay increase of £1,400 in real terms. (Representational image: iStock)

iStock

Wage increase takes effect for thousands of workers in Scotland

HUNDREDS of thousands of workers in Scotland will see a pay increase as new National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates take effect from Tuesday.

The changes will benefit approximately 220,000 people, according to STV News.

Keep ReadingShow less
uk-energy-bill-iStock

Water bills, energy prices, and council tax are rising, while the minimum wage has also increased (Representational image: iStock)

iStock

April bill increases put financial strain on single parents

A RANGE of essential household bills are increasing from April, with Citizens Advice warning that single parents will be among the hardest hit.

Water bills, energy prices, and council tax are rising, while the minimum wage has also increased, BBC reported.

Keep ReadingShow less