Harrowing moment officers find the remains of Constance Marten's baby Victoria stuffed into a Lidl bag filled with rubbish
Police found the remains of Constance Marten's daughter packed in a Lidl bag filled with rubbish – under a table with out-of-date milk on it.
The horror moment was captured on police body cameras, days after the aristocrat and her partner Mark Gordon, 49, refused to tell them where newborn Victoria was.
3
3
3
The shocking footage was shown today at the Old Bailey, where the pair are on trial.
On February 27 last year, Police Marten and Gordon tracked down Brighton but they wouldn't say where their baby was.
Tragically, Victoria was already dead after her parents went 'off-grid' and lived in a 'flimsy and weak' tent in the middle of nature. winter.
The officer who found her has now described the harrowing moment that unfolded on March 1 last year.
Officer Allen Ralph, who was sent by Scotland Yard to assist in the search, said he noticed the distinguishing feature Lidl bag on CCTV before joining the case.
Bodycam footage from the day of the horror discovery shows him approaching a disused shed near where the couple lived in an allotment.
There, PC Ralph saw a broken window and lifted the door to enter.
Recalling the smell, he told the court: “I remember saying, 'Something is dead there or something has died'.”
Inside, the PC and other officers found out-of-date milk and bread on a table, with a supermarket bag underneath.
He then told one of his fellow officers that he was sure he had noticed the Lidl bag earlier and that they should look through it.
PC Ralph told jurors: “I lifted him up and he was heavy and there was no reason why he should be heavy as far as I could see inside.
“I remember very clearly there was just a lot of crap.”
Inside they saw two baby diapers, a pink baby blanket, drink cans, cardboard, leaves and other trash.
But one of his colleagues said they could see what looked like a doll's head.
PC Ralph continued: “The head was on the left side. It was hollow, the top of the head. That's what we touched on.
“I unpacked it two or three times before I got to a part where I could see red puddles.
“A few seconds later we went to the right side. I put my hand down. My hand slipped on something. I looked and it was the baby's leg. My hand was soaking wet.”
I remember saying, 'Something is dead in there, or something has died.'
PC Allen Ralph
He said the baby was “very pale” and felt “very cold.”
Marten sobbed court today the beginning of her police interrogation after the baby was found was played.
She started crying in the interview after confirming the baby was hers, before telling police: “Her name was Victoria.”
The 36-year-old also told police she calls Gordon her husband.
The court previously heard how the couple went on the run with their newborn daughter after their car caught fire on a motorway in Bolton on January 5 last year.
This led to a nationwide search, as the couple began living 'off the grid' until they were arrested weeks later.
The couple denies manslaughter by gross negligence, concealment of the birth of a child, cruelty to a person under 16 and perverting the course of justice.
They also deny causing or permitting the death of a child between January 4 and February 27 last year, an alternative charge to manslaughter.
The process continues.
Timeline of the baby 'murder': How a couple evaded the police
CONSTANCE Marten and Mark Gordon are believed to have sparked a 54-day manhunt across Britain after disappearing with their baby Victoria.
Thus began the couple's journey…
December 20, 2022
Marten and Gordon booked into a holiday home in Northumberland, with tenancies ending on Boxing Day. The owner told jurors he found the property in “something of a state” on December 28.
December 24, 2022
The couple claims their daughter was born on this day, but this is disputed by prosecutors.
December 28, 2022
Their Suzuki broke down on the M18 motorway, so a recovery driver took them to a nearby Sainsbury's. There was reportedly no sign of the baby, but the rear and side windows of the car were blocked by clothing.
January 4, 2023
Marten and Gordon checked into the Ibis hotel at Lymm Services in Cheshire and later the AC Hotel in Manchester.
January 5, 2023
The couple's Peugeot 206 catches fire on the M61 motorway in Greater Manchester. Police are launching an urgent investigation after finding Marten's placenta, burner phones and passport, jurors were told.
She and Gordon are taken to a Morrisons store in Bolton by a member of the public before being taken seen on camera surveillance at nearby Bolton Interchange station.
The couple is said to have used Marten's trust for a taxi to Liverpool £400 taxi to Harwich in Essex.
Taxi driver Ali Yaryar, who picked up the couple from Liverpool, told the court: “I don't think the baby had any clothes on.”
January 6, 2023
The couple arrive in Harwich and check into a Premier Inn around 3am. They later moved to the Fryatt Hotel, where they paid in cash, it was said.
January 7, 2023
Marten and Gordon travel by taxi to Colchester and then to East Ham in London. The couple are said to have bought a buggy from Argos and then taken another taxi to Whitechapel.
They ate at a Brick Lane restaurant and then ditched the new buggy. Instead they opted to keep Victoria in a Lidl bag, jurors heard.
January 8, 2023
The couple spend £475 on a taxi from Hornsey to Newhaven in East Sussex and walk to the South Downs National Park. Marten buys snacks and gasoline with cash but there was no trace of the baby, it is said.
January 9, 2023
Both Marten and Gordon claim baby Victoria died on this day – making her 16 days old, the court was told. It is said that there is no way to know for sure.
January 16, 2023
Marten and Gordon are seen pitching a tent in the Stanmer Park nature reserve in the South Downs despite the cold weather.
February 16/17, 2023
The couple are spotted near Hollingbury Golf Course in the Sussex countryside, reportedly pushing a buggy without a baby. Their tent can later be seen in Coldean Lane in Brighton
A driver saw the pair walking towards Stanmer Park with something under Marten's puffer jacket, the court heard.
February 19, 2023
Gordon and Marten were reportedly seen in their tent in the park with a very young baby with a “wobbly” head. Jurors said the baby was not wearing socks, a blanket or a hat.
February 27, 2023
The couple are arrested at Hollingbury Place in Brighton but do not initially reveal Victoria's location, it is said.
March 1, 2023
Tragic Victoria indeed found dead in a Lidl bag covered in rubbish in a disused shed “like rubbish”, the court is told.