On-the-run mother Constance Marten said she had to escape her “bigoted” family because they would not let her have children with her “husband”.

Marten and her partner Mark Gordon, 49, are on trial after their baby Victoria died while they were camping on the South Downs in wintry conditions last year.

The 36-year-old continued giving evidence at The Old Bailey yesterday.

Cross-examining, prosecutor Joel Smith repeatedly asked Marten if she accepted that taking her newborn baby to live in a tent in the winter was a “very bad idea”.

Marten said: “Obviously being in a house would be better than being in a tent.”

Mr Smith said: “Can you see that bringing your newborn child into a tent in the middle of winter with no heating and hot water, can you see that was a very bad decision?”

Marten replied: “You are looking at it from a very Western perspective. There are kids who live in igloos.”

She added: “It was the only decision I had at the time. She was well cared for and well loved.”

Read more: Constance Marten 'feels responsible' over death of baby Victoria

Asked if she regretted the decision now, she said: “I regret falling asleep in the way I did.”

Jurors have heard how the couple went on the run from authorities in a bid to keep their baby after their four other children were taken into care.

They abandoned their car after it burst into flames near Bolton, Greater Manchester last January 5 and were finally arrested in Brighton on February 27 last year.

Victoria’s remains were found by police in a Lidl bag inside a shed on an allotment off Lynchet Close in Brighton on March 1, 2023.

Mr Smith asserted that Marten went underground with her baby because she thought social services were wrong that she and Gordon were “unfit” parents.

Mr Smith went on: “Has it occurred to you in trying to prove them wrong you proved them more right than ever?”

The defendant denied she was trying to prove anyone wrong.

Marten replied: “Victoria would be alive if it were not for them. I’m not saying they are to blame for her death. I’m saying we were in a very unfortunate position.”

The defendant was asked about the circumstances in which she had her first child.

Marten told jurors her family was “extremely oppressive and bigoted”, would not allow her to have a child with her husband and would do anything to “erase the child from the family line”.

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.