Jury in Constance Marten and Mark Gordon trial shown how police found baby

A jury has seen footage of the moment before two police officers discovered the body of the newborn baby of Mark Gordon and Constance Marten.

Officers found baby Victoria under some rubbish in a Lidl bag for life in a shed in Brighton on 1 March 2023.

Ms Marten told police she had kept her body because she wanted an "autopsy" and "proper burial", the court heard.

The couple are accused of her manslaughter by gross negligence. They both deny the charge.

Recorded on a body-worn camera on one of the officers, they can be seen standing on decking outside a new-looking shed on an allotment.

Wearing blue forensic gloves, the officers can be seen gingerly taking out the contents of the bag which included two empty drink cans, several pages from the Sun newspaper and a blanket.

One of the officers reaches down to the bottom of the bag and quickly removes his hand before the other does the same thing. The footage then stops.

PC Allen Ralph told the Old Bailey on Wednesday that the shed was closed but not locked and had a broken window pane.

When he looked inside, the first thing he noticed was a blue tent in its bag.

Having told senior officers about his find, he told the court he returned and decided to look at the bag for life he had noticed earlier, noting that it resembled one he had seen in pictures of Ms Marten and Mr Gordon.

The court also saw footage of Ms Marten's police interview when officers revealed to her they had found the body of baby Victoria.

One officer says "Constance, I can tell you the baby's not alive", to which Ms Marten responds "I know".

"Is it your baby?" an officer asks. "Yes it is," Ms Marten responds.

"She passed away, I can't remember exactly, it was probably three days after the car exploded," she added, referring to an incident which saw the couple's car catch fire on the M61 near Manchester on 5 January.

The parents travelled across England in taxis following the discovery of a placenta in the burnt-out vehicle.

She told police she had "panicked" after the fire and knew police would "potentially take Victoria away", the court heard.

Describing how Victoria had died, Ms Marten told police: "I had her in my jacket... I fell asleep holding her sitting up and when I woke up she wasn't alive.

"I kept the body because I wanted to have an autopsy done. I didn't bury her because [I] wanted her to have a proper burial but I couldn't get a proper burial until I had an autopsy."

The court also heard Ms Marten telling police she had been "debating whether to hand myself in" but the "whole media presence... is terrifying".

Up until that point, the had couple repeatedly declined to answer questions about the whereabouts of their baby.

The court heard extracts from their police interviews on 28 February and 1 March, when officers were still searching in and around the allotments.

At this time Ms Marten, who was being held at Brighton Police Station, did not answer any questions, including "Can you tell me what's happened to your child?" and "Has the child got a name?"

In his interviews at Worthing Police Station, Mark Gordon also did not answer any questions, but told the detectives repeatedly that he was in pain.

He got out of the wheelchair and sat on the floor in the interviewing room saying: "My legs are hurting…I'm in pain."

The interview resumed after he went to the bathroom, and he told officers: "I am experiencing pain and you are asking questions.

"I'm getting sub-par treatment. I don't think I should be talked to like I am a nobody. I'm in custody, but that doesn't mean I am a dog."

At one point a detective asked him: "What was the baby's name?" But Mr Gordon did not answer.

As well as manslaughter, the couple are also accused of four other offences: cruelty to their baby; concealment of the baby's birth; causing or allowing her death; and perverting the course of justice by concealing the body.

The trial continues.