Post-mortem on Constance Marten’s baby to be held as parents face more police questioning

A post-mortem examination of the baby found dead in Brighton woodland is expected to take place today as police try to find out how and when the baby died.

The newborn’s parents, Constance Marten, 35, and her convicted rapist partner Mark Gordon, 48, remain in custody and will also be questioned this morning.

Their arrest on Monday ended a nationwide police hunt that began when they fled seven weeks ago with their newborn baby. Police detained them on charges of child neglect and then on suspicion of manslaughter by gross negligence, but they have refused to speak to officers about their child being born in secret.

An autopsy will reveal how and when the child died. Police had long feared for the child’s chances of survival due to a lack of medical care and sub-zero temperatures and these worst fears became a reality yesterday

Yesterday it turned out that the death may have been days or weeks ago, because the couple was spotted several times without the child.

They were seen on CCTV on Feb. 11 entering a fish and chip shop in Brighton, shopping at a convenience store and later visiting food banks, according to locals.

The last person to see the child alive was on January 7 when the pair took a taxi in Whitechapel, east London.

Authorities were unaware of the birth until the couple’s car suffered an electrical fault and caught fire on the M61 near Bolton on 5 January, destroying all their belongings.

The couple left the wreckage and crossed the country with the baby, who was barely a day old at the time, as police became increasingly concerned that the child had not received medical attention.

They traveled by taxi, paid for everything in cash, covered their faces while on CCTV, and were often on the road, often in the dark.

On Monday evening, the police finally tracked down the couple in Brighton after a tip-off. Yesterday, a businessman, who declined to be named, said: “They were captured on CCTV in the area as early as February 11.

‘They have been seen going into the chippy and the Mulberrys (shop) and only going out at night.

“Gordon has a leg injury and used the tree branch as a walking stick. They were never seen with the baby, or pushing a stroller or anything like that. It’s heartbreaking to think what could have happened to that poor baby.’

Days before her arrest, Marten, who comes from a wealthy family with ties to the royal family, visited Brighton’s food bank.

One worker said they didn’t charge for a baby, even though they had plenty of diapers and baby food, adding: ‘They were given canned food, bread, pasta, milk and rice. They were not registered with us, as we usually do.

“The baby wasn’t with them. We have supplies here, but they didn’t charge for a baby. But they themselves came to ask for help.

‘She did the talking and the man was left with his hood up. She asked for help. She wore many layers and looked like she had been out for a while.

He checked the area. He stepped back and wouldn’t make eye contact. She spoke. We didn’t record any details, we just fed them because we thought they needed help.’

Over the past 48 hours, more than 200 police officers and search and rescue experts have scoured 90 square miles of rural Sussex looking for the child using helicopters, sniffer dogs, thermal imaging cameras and drones.

Superintendent Lewis Basford, who is leading the investigation for Sussex Police, said last night: “It is my very sad duty to report that this afternoon police officers searching an area of ​​woodland near where Constance Marten and Mark Gordon were arrested found the remains of a baby. There will be a post-mortem examination in due course.

“A crime scene is present and work on the site is expected to take some time. This is a result that I and the many agents who took part in the search had hoped would not happen.” Last night, the pair remained in custody after magistrates granted a request to extend their detention for a further 36 hours.

Inquiries revealed that Marten had given birth in the back of the car before it caught fire and had not been assessed by medical professionals.

She was apparently in tears during the arrest and yelled at officers to get rid of her lover when he was detained because she was concerned about his mental health.

A bystander claimed he struggled and took 40 minutes to be overcome. Another said he was “very angry” and yelling. A search dog van was seen driving onto the road leading to allotments which were the focus of the police search.

Marked police vehicles were stationed along the route and a uniformed officer stood guard at the bottom of the road.

Set in a 240-acre nature reserve, the woodland is on the direct off-road footpath between Newhaven and Fiveways, the Brighton area where the pair were arrested on Monday night.

Marten and Gordon were initially detained on suspicion of child neglect, before being re-arrested the following day on suspicion of grossly negligent homicide.