This is the harrowing moment a police officer demanded to know where a missing baby was being kept, with the child’s father Mark Gordon, who is accused of her manslaughter, is more concerned about food
Harrowing audio as police question man over his missing child
A man on trial for killing his baby daughter has been heard moaning he was hungry as desperate police officers try to find out if the child is alive or dead.
Harrowing audio from a police officer’s body-worn camera has been played at the retrial of Mark Gordon and Constance Marten, who are accused of the manslaughter of baby Victoria. The baby died after they went off-grid and slept in a tent on the South Downs in early 2023. The clip played to jurors at the Old Bailey revealed the repeated and relentless questioning after police arrest the pair following a nationwide manhunt.
The officer did not know that little Victoria was already dead at the time, and their priority was to find the child and give it the care it needed. The court was told the officer had arrested Gordon, using two pairs of handcuffs after the first pair broke. Gordon told them he had not eaten a meal for months and was desperate for food. Despite being arrested the officers gave him ginger beer and chicken, but were keen to get information about the baby. In the clip the officer can be heard saying: “Can you tell me where your child is, is your child alive? Is your child alive mate, or is your child dead? We need to know.”
Gordon can be heard mumbling something, so the officer asks: “Is your child dead?” Gordon then said: “The chips are really good.” The officer tries again: “What about the child? Can you tell me where your child is? Honestly I really don’t want to play games with you, we need to sort this out. We need to find out where your child is, if you can at least help us with that, I’d really appreciate it.”
Gordon simply states: “I’m hungry.” The officer stays calm and answers: “I know you’re hungry my friend, but potentially there’s a baby that’s hungry. Is that not your number one priority? ….the safety of the child; your child? Can you tell me where your child is, please mate? Is your child alive?”
The officer continues asking for help to locate the child, but Gordon says he is being treated like he is “sub-human”. The policeman tells him: “My concern is a baby that is potentially on its own, we are trying to find a baby that can die if we don’t, and you’re more interested in eating something.”
Gordon says: “That’s not it, I’m starving,” before adding about the food: “this is really good, this is humbling,” and while the officer repeats: “Is your baby alive?”, Gordon added: “Let me have my food, what’s the big deal?” The officer continued: “Your food is not the biggest deal here, it’s not the biggest thing that’s going on, it’s not the most important thing…we need to find the baby…I’m worried if we don’t find your child, your child might die and that is the most important thing right here, right now.”
The court has previously heard Marten and Gordon kept the birth of their fifth child secret after four other children were taken into care. On January 5, 2023, the couple abandoned their belongings and fled after their Peugeot car burst into flames on the M61 near Bolton, Greater Manchester. Police launched a search for the missing baby after a placenta was found in the wreckage of the car.
The defendants travelled across England in taxis and ended up on the South Downs, where the baby died while they lived “off-grid” in a tent, the court has heard. The prosecution has alleged that Victoria died from hypothermia or was smothered while co-sleeping in the “flimsy” tent, despite past warnings.
The pair were arrested on February 27 2023 and the child’s body was discovered days later inside a shopping bag for life left in a disused shed near Brighton. Marten and Gordon, of no fixed address, have denied the gross negligence manslaughter of their daughter and causing or allowing her death between January 4 and February 27 2023.
Jurors have been told the defendants were convicted at an earlier trial of concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice. The retrial will resume on Monday.
