Constance Marten trial - jury discharged for failing to reach a verdict

[ByCupidStunt]

Frustrating but I thought this might happen.

What happens now does anyone know?

The CPS will decide whether to try again. If not, that’s the end of the manslaughter aspect.

It's dragged on so long it's hardly surprising jurors were dropping out but it's a shame all that time and effort has gone to waste. Seems they couldn't reach verdicts on any of the charges though so at the moment presumably they're just free to go?

The CPS may decide to try them again on just some of the more simple charges such as concealing the birth and leave out the manslaughter charge.

I don't know why anyone is shocked. We only know what the media want us to know or what they know, there's another side to this story, I'm not shocked at all, these cases are complicated & one thing is for sure, she didn't want the child dead, constance Martin lost several children to the system & whatever anyone says, there's absolutely no support that would aid or help her comes back from that, her mental health would have been shattered & I don't doubt that the defence used this.
I'm not saying right or wrong but surprised, no.

I'm not sure if any of you on here follow the fbk group of the trial but according to one poster on the group there is A LOT more to this and CM isn't as away with the fairies as we'd like to think.
The court reporters aren't allowed to report certain things so we only really hear half the story. I'm not defending them but austerity there's a lot more to come out about this story in the press.

Is this really true? I've followed the trial podcast and they've not said they're not allowed to report certain things. Surely if it's said in court they are allowed to report it?

The way the whole trial has been conducted stinks tbh.

@Grandmasswagbag yes, I'm sure there's stuff they're not allowed to put out there until the trial is over. Don't quote me but I'm off to check!

I believe the people on the jury asked a lot of questions (as you would) Re the removal of the other children etc and we don't know much about any of that. Presumably it's also to protect the children. Apparently a lot of the stuff about her family isn't 100% untrue and that's why it was left in her hands to do the talking and MG didn't speak.

Jury Dismissed on failing to reach a verdict on CM and MG’s tragic loss of their baby -Victoria.
I too, feel that Manslaughter is not a charge that CM & MG should be facing.
But I cannot say that I completely believe CM’s retelling of events.
Sadly, the worst outcome happened.
Which is punishment enough, and now with even less chance of the decision to remove their other four children being reversed anytime soon; what is left to prosecute?
In fact, the only reason this case would be re-trialed is MONEY.

Yep. I expect there'll be strong consideration given to retrying for the lesser offences. Manslaughter is difficult without evidence of how baby Victoria actually died.

I should say though, I don't think the CPS will go for concealment of the birth again. It doesn't actually mean you gave birth and concealed it, it's about disposal of a baby's dead body. Its a strange offence, with the statute being from the mid 19th century, and there have been calls to abolish it.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqee6p0enjno

hot off the press. Guilty of concealing the birth and perverting the course of justice by hiding the body,
I couldn't see how she couldn't be found guilty of concealing the birth. Obviously the jury were just discharged on the offences they couldn't reach a verdict on then went back into deliberations on these two offences which were absolute stone bonkers in my reasonably knowledgeable opinion.
perverting the course of justice is a common law offence and as such carries no a maximum term so they could potentially get life.
As per article they will be retried on the other counts which I expected; I couldn't imagine a scenario where cps or the MPS would not seek a retrial

They'd already decided the outcomes of the other two charges before they were discharged on the most serious offence but there were reporting restrictions so we couldn't be told. It does all make more sense now - the other charges seemed more straightforward.

Yerroblemom1923 · 20/06/2024 14:29
I'm not sure if any of you on here follow the fbk group of the trial but according to one poster on the group there is A LOT more to this and CM isn't as away with the fairies as we'd like to think.

There is also a poster on the fbk group who thinks the Marten family have bribed someone. However, when questioned further as to whether it’s the jury or the judge who has been bribed, she refuses to answer.
This trial seems to have brought out a lot of conspiracy theorists.

Not sure why anyone thinks they shouldn’t face manslaughter charges.

OK, there is no forensic evidence to show that Victoria died of cold (the forensic evidence was lost in that Lidl bag 😢), but in CM’s own account she zipped the baby inside her coat to keep her warm, and was then so tired she fell asleep. When she woke up the poor baby was dead.

On MN mothers constantly advise and set people straight about the slightest risk from the wrong sort of covers, danger of smothering from a cot bumper etc etc. How is sitting upright in a teeny tent (nothing to support you) with your baby’s head zipped inside a winter, presumably wind proof coat and therefor not permeable to air, not causing the baby’s death? Albeit not intentionally.

She said her plan was to advertise on Gumtree to get someone who would look after Victoria and then smuggle her abroad.

Would posters on this thread really be so sympathetic to a thread posted on MN thus:

Help! Need to give birth in secret so SS don’t take my baby.

It’s complicated but I am devastated to have lost 4 of my kids to SS. We were a bit chaotic with our living situation and were actually living in a tent in Wales when one was born and have never had a fixed address, and also I have a toxic family who have caused all sorts of trouble.
^^
So now I’m pg and desperate to keep this baby. How can I give birth in secret and keep the baby until we can somehow get it abroad? Any advice? It will be hard to get a passport but I can find someone on Gumtree to smuggle the baby to us maybe?
^^
Getting abroad is hard anyway as my DP has a conviction (rape and serious assault) and we have SO much red tape getting him abroad top.
^^
Any advice?

Followed by:

AIBU to live in a tent with a newborn?

Update on my previous thread! I gave birth to a darling girl on Xmas Eve, in an AirBnB! Magical, no one but us knows she exists. Luckily we didn’t need any medical help, yay!

Anyway, it’s got tricky. We were moving around, place to place, hotels, sleeping in the car, never in the same place for more than a day, trying to work out how we could get a place to rent for a while, or get out of the country. I just don’t want SS or the authorities to know about my baby.

The car broke down and caught fire. Luckily none of us were hurt but we lost loads of cash and my passport and all the baby clothes and equipment. We managed a couple of nights in hotels but now my family have set the bloody police on our tail. I am determined not to talk to SS.

AIBU to think we can live in a tent for a while until we can get smuggled abroad? It won’t take long to arrange, maybe a week or so? I know it’s winter and we’d have to stay off grid with no water or electricity, but we could put Dd in the footmuff from her pushchair or I could zip her into my coat.

Any campers around? AIBU to think Dd would be fine? She’s nearly 2 weeks old.

^^

If Constance Marten was "away with the fairies" her QC would have used it in the defence.
I don't think there is anything wrong with her mental health unless being a conspiracy theorist and hating authority is now a MH issue. She seems to me to share many characteristics with the people who think they are Freemen of the Land, eco warriors, Swampy and those sorts of rent a mob type "alternative lifestyle" types. Trustafarians. spoilt rich kids who have never suffered a day of hardship in their lives. I know lots of people have tried to mitigate her in the way that lots of people try to excuse female wrong doing, by saying it must have been him brain washing her but if he did he did an absolute bang up job because she came across as a complete zealot in her determination that SS stole her children with some sort of agenda and that she was an amazing mother, and that it was fine for babies to live in tents because "Jesus was born in a barn".

she epitomises Pulp's Common People.

I bet mark gordon couldn't believe his luck when he first got CM pregnant.

He was extremely well advised not to give evidence. Can't have the jury find you dishonest, shown up to be an extreme conspiracy theorist or incriminate yourself if you don't speak.

I suspect CM was recommended the same by her QC however she didn't want to take advice and instead took the court proceedings as an opportunity to give speeches and grandstand, as indeed she was told off for several times.

it will be interesting to see how trial 2 plays out as there can't be a person in the country who doesn't have an opinion.

Does anyone know do they have to remain in prison, out on bail or released pending charges or any other scenario ?

They are still on remand, presumably pending sentencing for the 2 Guilty verdicts, and also presumably pending trial as they have form for trying to disappear.

They would be contacting a people smuggler off Gumtree before you could say ‘chicken sandwich with mayo’

Thanks @BoudiccaOfSuburbia ,
Sorry, my brain is addled by the heat, didn’t clock the guilty verdicts above.

She may not have wanted the child dead but the fact is the child died because of her actions.

Except that the jury can't decide that so we can't assume it was her actions that led to the death. It might have occured anyway we just don't know

That’s the problem, IMO.

Most of us are pretty sure that taking your newborn into an off grid situation in a crappy tiny Argos tent in January is putting that child at risk. Most of us, drilled into safe sleeping practices for our babies, know that zipping your newborn’s head inside your coat while desperately tired and with no support to lean on, is putting that child at risk.

By her own account in court one of those actions was implicated in the possible reason for Victoria’s death.

But hard for the prosecution to prove in court because by concealing Victoria’s death and hiding her body for weeks, they destroyed the forensic evidence.