First glimpse of baby Victoria caught in CCTV footage

Jurors at the Old Bailey have seen the first brief glimpses of a newborn baby who died after her parents went on the run Picture: Metropolitan Police/PA

Jurors have seen first brief glimpses of a newborn baby who died after her parents went on the run.

Wealthy Constance Marten, 36, and her partner Mark Gordon, 49, are on trial at the Old Bailey accused of the manslaughter of baby Victoria.

It is alleged the couple travelled across Englandand lived off-grid in a bid to keep their daughter after four other children were taken into care.

Constance Marten and Mark Gordon (Greater Manchester Police/PA)

They became front-page news last January when Greater Manchester Police launched a missing persons inquiry after finding a placenta in the couple’s burnt-out car on a motorway near Bolton.

The defendants spent hundreds of pounds on taxis taking them from the North West to Essex and on to east London, the Old Bailey has heard.

Last February, Marten and Gordon were arrested in East Sussex and the body of baby Victoria was found in a Lidl supermarket bagcovered in rubbish inside a disused shed.

Previously, CCTV of the couple appeared to show a bulge where the baby had been bundled up beneath Marten’s coat and wrapped in a blanket or towel.

On Tuesday, jurors were shown video footage clearly showing the dark-haired child dressed in a babygrow, with her hands and arms moving around.

Cab driver Colette Franklin, who took the defendants from Harwich to Colchester for £30, described how Gordon “slid down his seat” when a police car came towards them.

On arriving at East Ham, Gordon passed the baby out of another cab to Marten, who was standing near the door.

Baby Victoria’s fingers were seen in footage to curl and move around.

Further CCTV of Marten standing in the street showed her unzipping her jacket to reveal the baby.

She appeared to cradle the child in her arms to comfort her.

CCTV image of Constance Marten (green arrow) and Mark Gordon (yellow arrow) with baby Victoria (pink arrow) allegedly under Marten’s coat, getting a taxi to Liverpool outside Bolton bus station (Metropolitan Police/PA)

Jurors then viewed a clip of Gordon buying a buggy in Argos while Marten sat at a table in a German doner kebab shop.

When Gordon returned, Marten put the baby down, wrapped in a red scarf.

Prosecutor Joel Smith told jurors: “You can see while Ms Marten is assembling the buggy the baby’s arms moving to her left.”

Gordon sat in the dock and covered his face with his hand as the footage was shown in court.

His defence barrister, John Femi-Ola KC, spoke briefly to him and asked for a short break as his client was finding it “quite stressful”.

Marten, who was later captured on camera buying a dummy in Boots, has not attended court for her trial.

Jurors were told the couple went on to Whitechapel where Gordon bought a tent at Argos before heading to Newhaven in East Sussex.

Last January 12, Marten was captured on film at a Texaco garage in East Sussex, jurors were told.

After that the “trail went cold” until last February 20 when they were spotted near a golf course club house, Mr Smith said.

He told jurors that by then Gordon was using a branch as a makeshift walking stick and the defendants were “rummaging through bins”.

They were finally tracked down in the outskirts of Brighton where they were arrested last February 27.

Dog walker Paul Rogers told the the court he saw the defendants near Hollingbury golf course in Brighton.

He said: “As I got closer to them I noticed they looked a bit dishevelled, a bit dirty, possibly homeless people.

“The man was carrying plastic bags, a bag in each hand. The woman was pushing a buggy. They didn’t have anything else with them.

“I do not recall whether there was anything in the buggy.”

Mr Smith asked: “At any point, did you see or hear a baby?”

Mr Rogers said: “I didn’t, no.”

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.