Constance Marten and Mark Gordon trial: Tragic baby 'never stood a chance' as she lived in a tent with parents, court hears

A baby girl died after her parents went "off grid" - having fled a burning Peugeot near Bolton, travelled across England and begun living in a tent, a court has heard. "Cruel and arrogant" Constance Marten, 36, and Mark Gordon, 49, tucked their newborn in Marten's coat before keeping her in a Lidl bag as they travelled across the country, the Old Bailey was told.

The couple had been seen checking into hotels in Cheshire and Manchester before the car they were allegedly travelling in on the M61 caught fire, last January 5. Prosecutors say that after the baby had died, she was left inside a shopping bag covered in rubbish.

At the opening of a manslaughter by gross negligence trial today (January 25), jurors were told the baby was the couple's fifth child. The court heard how after their previous four babies had been taken into care, Marten and Gordon showed a "selfish desire" to keep their newborn, which ultimately led to her "entirely avoidable" death.

Try MEN Premium now for FREE... just click here to give it a go.

Prosecuting, Tom Little KC said the baby “would still be alive if it was not for the reckless, utterly selfish, callous, cruel, arrogant and ultimately grossly negligent conduct of the two defendants on trial”. He told jurors: “They put their relationship and their view of life before the life of a little baby girl.”

Mr Little said the defendants decided they “knew best” and ignored the advice they were given rather than act in the vulnerable baby’s best interests. “They decided that, in the middle of a cold winter and in cruel and obviously dangerous weather conditions, they would deprive the baby of what it needed – warmth, shelter and food and ultimately safety,” he said.

“They essentially went off-grid