Constance Marten says family ‘claimed she bred children for the black market’
Constance Marten’s family accused her of “breeding children for the black market” during a bitter family court dispute, she has told the Old Bailey.
The 36-year-old, who is on trial accused of the manslaughter of her baby daughter, Victoria, told jurors a family member tried to have her children removed in revenge after she spoke out about “serious abuse”.
In bad-tempered exchanges with Joel Smith, prosecuting, Ms Marten, who is under cross-examination, claimed her children had been “stolen from her by that state”.
The jury had previously heard how Ms Marten gave birth to Victoria in secret and then went on the run with her partner, Mark Gordon, and Victoria last winter, after her first four children were taken into care.
She told the jury: “I had spoken out about serious abuse by that family member and as a way to get back at me they tried to take my children away from me.
“A member of my family made an allegation that I was breeding children to sell on the black market and that I was a drug addict. It was completely outrageous.
“My family have a lot of money, a lot of clout and a lot of connections and that is why they were able to do what they did.”
She added: “Our four children have been stolen under completely spurious circumstances. I have lost complete faith in the system.”
Sleeping rough
The couple were sleeping rough in a tent on the South Downs last January when Victoria died. Her body was later discovered in a disused shed on an allotment.
Ms Marten explained she had gone on the run because she had “no faith in the system” and feared social services would remove Victoria.
She said her original plan had been to go abroad but Mr Gordon’s passport had been removed and she was subject to a travel ban as a result of previous wardship proceedings, when a family member had tried to get custody of her first four children.
Ms Marten said initially she and Mr Gordon had considered becoming “reverse refugees” and paying to get someone to smuggle them out of Britain to mainland Europe.
She said they had also thought about paying a “professional” to take baby Victoria for a period and then take her overseas to meet them once they had got settled.
But their plans went awry when the car they were travelling in caught fire on the M61 near Bolton on Jan 5 last year, resulting in the loss of much of their possessions and money.
GPS trackers
Ms Marten told the jury she believed the car might have been tampered with by people working on behalf of her family.
She said: “We’ve had lots of cars and I believe every one has been tampered with by members of my family. Every single one of our cars has just stopped in the middle of the motorway.”
Ms Marten also claimed she and Mr Gordon had discovered GPS trackers on the vehicles which she believes were placed there by private detectives working for her family.
The couple are accused of manslaughter by gross negligence, concealing the birth of a child, cruelty to a person under 16, causing or allowing the death of a child and perverting the course of justice.
They deny all the charges and the trial continues.
