Aristocrat Constance Marten received almost £50,000 from her trust fund just months before fleeing with her lover and newborn baby, a court heard today.
Marten, 36, and her partner Mark Gordon, 49, are accused of killing their daughter Victoria in January, after fleeing to prevent social services from taking their daughter.
The baby’s placenta was found in a exploded car near Bolton, Greater Manchester, sparking a huge search that lasted seven weeks. before being arrested in Brighton.
Victoria’s remains were found in a Lidl supermarket bag inside a disused shed in an orchard on March 1 last year.
Jurors at the Old Bailey heard this afternoon that Marten received £47,886 through a prestigious Hoares bank trust between September 1, 2022 and January 17, 2023. He received money after a police appeal was launched on January 6 of last year.
Constance Marten (pictured with another child) received almost £50,000 from her trust fund before going on the run.
Mark Gordon, 49 (pictured) and Marten accused of killing daughter Victoria
Gordon, pictured alongside Marten in a court sketch on Monday, claimed the couple had wanted to “safeguard” the girl, that “everything” was for her and that what happened could not have been predicted.
DS Steve Ferguson said Marten was the beneficiary of a “significant family trust” from Hoare & Co bank.
The bank, founded in 1672 and is the oldest privately owned bank in the UK, contacted Marten and asked for a meeting to discuss its future plans on October 26.
Two days later, the bank sent an email attempting to arrange a Zoom call, and on Nov. 2, Marten apologized for missing the Zoom call.
On November 4, Marten said she was behind on monthly payments of £600 to pay for storage of her belongings and was sent £1,200. She also asked for money for photography equipment, a laptop, to replace her 20-year-old van.
According to the court, the phone call was about “the costs of living in temporary housing”, his plans to return to work, his family, a private investigator and his former landlord.
On November 9, Marten said he planned to move to Lincolnshire. Eight days later, she was sent £1,336 for camera and film equipment.
On several occasions, Marten requested that his monthly allowance be sent to him early and on 1 December he requested an increase in the allowance to £3,400. Marten received £15,590, towards the purchase of a new car, on December 21.
In footage shown during the trial, Marten is seen keeping the baby under his coat before unzipping it and exposing her in east London on January 7.
Jurors were shown little Victoria’s (centre) face for the first time last month as her parents Constance Marten (right) and Mark Gordon (left) sat inside a kebab shop.
The heartbreaking moment when the body of a missing newborn girl was found inside a Lidl supermarket bag is shown at the trial of aristocrat Constance Marten
At the beginning of January 2023 he had £19,087.18 in his Metro Bank account.
After his car burst into flames and his face appeared on the news, the bank sent emails to Marten saying they were “very concerned” about his well-being and asked him to contact them.
At the end of December, Marten made many cash withdrawals across the north of England, including Scunthorpe, Huddersfield, Carlisle and Doncaster. For New Year’s Eve, he was doing a retreat in Grantham, Lincolnshire.
DS Ferguson said that after the car explosion no significant card payments were made to Marten’s Metro Bank or Halifax accounts, only cash withdrawals.
Jurors were told they would hear forensic evidence and evidence from the couple’s family court proceedings next week.
A January 5, 2023 Metropolitan Police image of Mark Gordon and Constance Marten’s burning Peugeot 206 on the M61, which was played in court during their trial.
An image shows the inside of the couple’s burned car. The baby’s placenta was found in the vehicle, the Old Bailey heard.
A photo of baby clothes found in a Lidl bag in a shed in Lower Roedale Allotments, East Sussex, which included Victoria’s body.
Prosecutor Tom Little, KC, told them they could expect the prosecution’s case to conclude next week.
Marten attended court today wearing a pink shirt, a black cardigan and a blue hairpin, while Gordon did not attend.
Marten’s mother, Virginie de Selliers, and brother Tobias Marten also attended court.
The wealthy family lived on the Crichel House estate in Dorset during Marten’s youth and his grandmother was a playmate of Princess Margaret and goddaughter of the Queen Mother.
Marten and Gordon deny 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 allowing the death of a child.
The trial continues.