Constance Marten told Mark Gordon to 'lie to police' court hears

Marten, 36, told jurors that she advised her partner to lie about being present at the death of their baby daughter.

The Old Bailey heard she and Gordon advised each other in an attempt to protect each other, with the wealthy aristocrat saying that the police “love to prosecute”.

They are on trial after baby Victoria died while they were living in a tent on the South Downs in wintry conditions last year.

Marten claimed her daughter died last January 9, shortly after the couple went to live off grid in a bid to evade social services.

Constance Marten giving evidence (Image: PA)

She said Gordon told her not to tell police that Victoria died while Marten was holding her in her sleep because police would “blame” her.

Marten said she told Gordon to tell police he was not there at the time.

She said: “I’m very protective over my husband because I feel that he gets blamed for everything.”

As it happened: Live evidence from today's hearing

“I thought they were going to automatically blame him, being a black guy, and I am the good one usually.

"Despite Mark saying don’t tell them the truth, when I was in the police interview I said the truth because I wanted to find out if it was it my fault."

Marten and Gordon refused to answer officers’ urgent questions about where their baby was and whether she was alive or dead when arrested in Golf Drive in Brighton on February 27, 2023.

The court heard today that the couple moved into a shed in allotments in Hollingbury after living in a tent on the South Downs for some time.

Victoria’s remains were found by police in a Lidl bag inside the shed on March 1, 2023.

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 case continues.