Constance Marten went on the run with her partner Mark Gordon and newborn baby Victoria (Picture: PA)
A mum on trial over her baby daughter’s death has defended her decision to live with the newborn in a tent in the middle of winter, saying: ‘Jesus survived in a barn.’
Constance Marten, 36, and her partner Mark Gordon, 49, are on trial after their baby Victoria died while they were camping in the South Downs last winter.
Marten has been grilled about the couple’s decision to buy a tent and live off the grid, hiding from authorities as they feared Victoria would be taken into care, as their four other children had been.
Marten claimed two of her older children had been ‘spat on’ and physically abused while in care.
She told the Old Bailey that Bedouin families walk through cold deserts with children, adding: ‘Jesus survived in a barn. I would do anything to protect my child to prevent her being taken by the system that’s abhorrent, yeah.
‘I have grown up with luxury, I have been blessed in that respect. I like feathered duvets and comfort.
Marten’s four other children have been taken into care (Picture: Facebook)
She was caught on CCTV carrying her baby under a coat (Picture: PA)
‘I would do anything for my baby. Anything. So it was an easy decision to make. I would rather be in a plush bed in a palace. I would rather be in a nice big bed.’
Prosecutor Joel Smith asked if she considered the conditions were uncomfortable.
Marten replied: ‘I’m pretty outdoorsy but I would rather be in a bed.
‘We were not looking to live in a tent. We were acting on instinct. She was our number one priority. We were living in a tent for Victoria.
‘A mother’s love for her child is incredibly strong. There was no way I was going to part with my child. We were hiding from the entire British public because I was worried about Victoria being taken.’
Marten accepted that camping in a tent meant there was no heating, hot water or electricity.
But she said: ‘People around the world live in conditions like that… as long as your child is well taken care of and loved.’
Asked what they planned to do about food, she said: ‘It was only a pitstop. We were not thinking about being there for months. It was more in the immediacy rather than long-term planning.’
Marten repeatedly dismissed as ‘ridiculous’ the prosecution suggestion that she had carried her daughter in a Lidl ‘bag for life’ when she was alive.
Marten has been giving evidence at the Old Bailey (Picture: Julia Quenzler/SWNS)
Baby Victoria’s remains were found in a Lidl bag in this allotment shed in Sussex (Picture: PA)
She said: “This whole line of reasoning is absurd, that she is alive in the bag.
‘I’m not going to put her alive in a Lidl bag, I’m sorry.’
Earlier, Marten became agitated when asked about a teddy bear babygrow Victoria was wearing in CCTV footage from east London which was later among items recovered with her ‘dumped’ body.
She insisted Victoria was not ‘dumped’ in the Lidl bag, telling jurors: ‘It’s awful, I know. The only thing I can say, if someone passes away the immediate reaction is panic. Mark and I were not in a good place. We were in fear and grief.
‘She was not dumped anywhere. She was with us the whole time.’
Mr Smith asserted the couple were ‘hideously ill-prepared’ to look after Victoria.
The defendant, who described Gordon as her ‘amazing husband’, told jurors: ‘We had enough to keep her warm, absolutely. She was our number one priority.’
The defendants, of no fixed address, deny manslaughter by gross negligence, perverting the course of justice, concealing the birth of a child, child cruelty and causing or allowing the death of a child.
The trial continues.
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