The jury at the manslaughter trial of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon have been shown pictures of destroyed baby clothes left near the couple’s burned-out car.
The pair are currently on trial at the Old Bailey accused of killing their newborn daughter Victoria, after it was alleged they travelled across England and lived off-grid in a bid to keep the baby after four other children were taken into care.
After the trial began last week the court heard how Greater Manchester Police launched an investigation after discovering their abandoned car on the M61 with a placenta inside.
Now images show a white baby blanket, a cream baby sleeping bag and a white baby romper as well as other items left at the fence line of the motorway’s junction with Anchor Lane, with separate evidence photos showing other burned infant clothing and dummies.
Baby Victoria was found dead in a Lidl carrier bag by police, where she was covered in rubbish in a disused shed in Brighton on March 1.
Marten, 36, a wealthy aristocrat and her partner Gordon, 49, are also accused of concealing her birth.
At court today taxi drivers spoke of their “concerns” after picking the couple up while they were on the run with their baby, while jurors have viewed CCTV in which the child was allegedly carried under Marten’s coat, only being briefly glimpsed when the couple stopped in East Ham.
More CCTV footage of the couple was shown, with videos depicting Gordon buying a two-person tent and camping bedding, including a children’s unicorn sleeping bag at Whitechapel Argos.
It has been alleged that the couple abandoned a buggy and were carrying Argos bags and a Lidl bag-for-life when they got into a black cab shortly after midnight last January 8.
In a statement read to the court, taxi driver Abdirisakh Mohamud said he became “suspicious” and “uncomfortable” during the journey.
Mr Mohamud was allegedly asked if he was a Muslim, whether he was “trustworthy” and if there were cameras in the cab. He said he told the man there were cameras, even though there were not because he wanted to feel “safe”.
He was then asked whether he was sharing the conversation with anyone, to which he replied “no”.
In his statement, Mr Mohamud said he feared “something was not right” and asked the couple why they were wearing blue Covid facemasks, with the woman replying by saying she was a Muslim and it was her “hijab”.
He told her it was not a hijab and she replied by saying it was the only thing she had, while Gordon said he wore a mask because he “had a problem with his hair”.
Mr Mohamud said he dropped the couple off early in Green Lanes in Haringey rather than Enfield Tesco Extra where they had asked to go.
Another taxi driver Hasan Guzel described hearing “meowing” noises when he drove the defendants from Haringey to Newhaven in East Sussex early on January 8. He said in his statement that he had stopped when a woman waved at him and she told him to wait while her “friend” got in.
He said: “I heard what sounded like a cat meowing. I was annoyed at first because I thought she had a pet without telling me. I could see it was a baby, I could see the noise was coming from a baby. I thought why didn’t she tell me about this, it’s been nearly four hours we have been travelling.”
He said that when he dropped them off in Newhaven, he saw it was cold and dark and he was “concerned as to what they were going to do next”.
On the morning of last January 16, Nicholas Frost allegedly spotted Gordon emerging from a blue tent in woodland in Stanmer Park, Brighton.
In a statement, he said: “I thought to myself it was unusual because you never see people camping in that area. It was also very cold, not camping weather. It was about minus two degrees. The male came out from inside the tent. This startled us and the male appeared to be startled as well.
“I definitely got the impression that he did not want to be seen.”
The witness said Gordon was carrying two bags including an orange bag-for-life which “looked like it had stuff in it”.
The defendants, of no fixed address, deny manslaughter by gross negligence of the little girl between January 4 and February 27 last year.
They are also charged with 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.
