In the retrial of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon, the jury has been informed that Gordon’s legal team has withdrawn from the case. Judge Mark Lucraft KC announced that Gordon will now represent himself in court.
Marten, 37, and Gordon, 50, are accused of manslaughter by gross negligence in the death of their newborn daughter, Victoria. Her decomposed body was found in a shopping bag inside a shed at a Brighton allotment in March 2023.
In their first trial last year, the couple was convicted of concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice by failing to report her death.
Marten has been testifying at the retrial at the Old Bailey in London. Last Friday, the jury was informed that Gordon’s lawyers were supposed to ask her questions in the next stage. However, the jury was then told that Gordon would now ask the questions himself, though they would first be submitted to the judge because he is not a qualified lawyer.
The jurors were instructed to return to court at midday on Wednesday.
Both Gordon and Marten also deny charges of causing or allowing the death of a child.
Last week, Marten testified that she had fallen asleep with Victoria while camping on the South Downs near Newhaven in a tent purchased from Argos. She said that upon waking, she realized she had accidentally rolled over onto her baby, leading to the baby’s death.
The trial is ongoing.
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