A RUNAWAY aristocrat and her lover have been found guilty over the death of her baby but will face a retrial for manslaughter.
Constance Marten, 37, and partner Mark Gordon, 50, evaded cops for 54 days with baby Victoria after allegedly hiding her birth.
The pair went “off-grid” as they feared the baby would be taken away from them like their four other children, it was said.
Victoria, who spent “much of her life” in a Lidl bag for life, was later discovered dead inside an abandoned shed.
The couple have been convicted of concealment of the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice, it can now be reported.
But jurors were unable to reach verdicts after more than 72 hours’ deliberation on manslaughter by gross negligence.
Prosecutors today confirmed they are seeking a retrial on that charge in March next year.
Jurors heard a 54-day hunt was launched for the pair after their burning car was discovered on the M61 motorway in Greater Manchester on January 5.
Officers allegedly found placenta wrapped in a towel, “new baby” nappies and newborn clothing, as well as “burner phones”.
A missing person‘s enquiry was launched, which became “bigger and bigger news” as time went on.
The couple travelled across England using “wealthy” Marten’s trust fund.
Marten, whose family lived at Dorset estate Crichel House, received nearly £19,000 in payments into her account from the trust while on the run, jurors heard.
Her father was a page to the late Queen, while her grandmother was a goddaughter to the Queen Mother.
Despite her connections, the couple allegedly chose to “deprive the baby of what she needed”.
They stayed in a tent in the middle of winter and slept on the South Downs after concealing Victoria’s birth.
CCTV pieced together the pair’s movements as they lived in a tent with barely any clothes and no means of keeping warm and dry.
Police finally tracked the couple down to Brighton on February 27 but they refused to answer where the newborn was.
Tragically, Victoria was already lying dead in the bag for life – hidden under nappies and rubbish.
