Constance Marten had £48k paid into her account

Constance Marten and Mark Gordon deny all the charges

Constance Marten had almost £48,000 paid into her Metro bank account from a family trust in the five months leading up to her baby’s death last year.

During the time police were looking for her and Mark Gordon, she had more than £19,000 in her account.

The couple are standing trial at the Old Bailey charged with the manslaughter of baby Victoria by gross negligence, which they deny.

Her body was found in a bag in a shed on a Brighton allotment last March.

Det Sgt Steve Ferguson told jurors that from the beginning of September 2022, when the evidence started, Ms Marten was receiving monthly payments from the Sturt Family Trust which were being paid to her by the private bank Hoares into her Metro bank account.

These were initially £2,500 a month, but went up to £3,400 a month in December 2022.

In the same period, Hoares Bank also paid her £3,800, which she said was for the cost of storing her belongings.

Then, on 13 November, £13,596 was paid into her Metro account for camera and filming equipment after she said she wanted to start working again.

On 22 December, £15,590 was transferred as Ms Marten said she wanted to buy a new car.

In total, from the beginning of September 2022 to mid-January 2023, £47,886 was paid into her account by Hoares Bank.

During December, there were a number of withdrawals in cash of between £50 and £300. Two big withdrawals of £4,000 and £2,000 were made on 31 December 2022 and 5 January 2023.

On the latter date, which was also the day that the car that Constance Marten and Mark Gordon were using caught fire, there was £19,083.10 in her Metro Bank account.

Over the next few weeks, while police were looking for the couple, they did not withdraw any money until 27 February 2023, the night that they were arrested.

The prosecution says that during that time, the couple were living in a tent on the South Downs with their new-born baby.

On 1 March last year, baby Victoria’s body was found in a Lidl supermarket bag inside a disused shed on the allotment.

As well as manslaughter, Ms Marten and Mr Gordon are also accused of four other offences – cruelty to their baby; concealment of the baby’s birth; causing or allowing her death; and perverting the course of justice by concealing the body.

They deny all charges.

The trial continues.