Cause of Constance Marten's baby's death remains unknown, coroner finds
The death of a baby born to Constance Marten and Mark Gordon remains a mystery, an inquest has heard.
The body of two-month old Victoria Marten was found on an allotment in Brighton on March 1 after a nationwide search for her parents.
They went missing in January after a burning car was found on the M61 near Bolton and were arrested in Brighton on Feb 27.
Joanne Andrews, the assistant coroner for West Sussex, told the hearing a post mortem examination performed at Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospital in London on March 3 was inconclusive with no date of birth confirmed.
She said the inquest was suspended while the circumstances of her death were investigated by police.
“The inquest will only be resumed if sufficient reason to do so,” Ms Andrews told the hearing in Horsham.
Marten, 36, who was born into the aristocracy, and Gordon, 49, appeared in court at Crawley in March charged with manslaughter, concealing the birth and perverting the course of justice.
At a hearing at the Old Bailey on Monday the couple were also charged with child cruelty and causing or allowing the death of a child.
Both appeared from prison by videolink - Marten from HMP Bronzefield in Surrey and Gordon from HMP Belmarsh in south-east London - and spoke only to confirm their names.
Judge Mark Lucraft KC put a plea and case management hearing back from Aug 18 to Sep 22 and confirmed the provisional trial has been set for January 2 next year.
