Constance Marten case — I feel the police have some responsibility too

[Siff]

I know Constance Marten and her partner made dangerous and illegal choices, and I’m not excusing that — a baby died and that’s heartbreaking. But I can’t stop thinking about the way the case was handled and whether the police have some responsibility in how things unfolded.

As a mum of four who’s struggled mentally after birth, I keep thinking: if I had just given birth, was vulnerable, and felt like the whole world was hunting me down — would I have thought clearly? Probably not. The media coverage was intense, and the police were everywhere. The pressure must have been overwhelming.

I honestly believe the fear created by the police operation pushed them into making more and more desperate and risky decisions to stay hidden. It wasn’t just a search — it felt like a witch hunt. No safeguarding, no attempt to reach her as a vulnerable mother, just a hard push to capture and punish.

I think that approach had consequences. The police must take some responsibility for creating the kind of fear and pressure that led to this tragedy. The way they went about it likely made things worse — not better — for the baby.

It’s easy to say she was selfish or unstable, but mental health in the postnatal period is fragile. People don’t always think rationally when terrified. I just wish there had been more humanity in how it was all handled.
Anyone else feel the same?

According to the bbc her family/she believed her family had taken a travel ban out.

chances are once the authorities knew she was pregnant a border alert would have gone out.

it’s possible they didn’t have passports. If Gordon had convictions or was on bail he may have had restrictions on travel.

again, you may think it’s strange but aren’t you making conclusions without full knowledge of the circumstances?

As another poster said: their attitude said alot!
Constance was arrogant and rude as well as Mark being so. Vile people!

But the outcome wouldn't be different. They would have just allowed their baby die in a foreign country instead.

What do you think legal aid is for? Everyone deserves to be properly represented at court.

Should only the rich have the right to a fair trail?

Or should there be affordable legal representation for all, regardless of means.

It’s how justice in a democracy works.

Yes. Baby could have lived quietly with the violent rapist in another country. Would have been fine.

In my experience removal of the child(ren) is the last resort, not the default

In my expierence you are absolutely right.

With most families, social workers to try resolve the issue and work on better outcomes for the family,often using a multi agency approach . If a child needs to be removed they will look for suitable family members to help out.
Its only when things are at absolute crisis and a there is a serious safeguarding issue will a team remove children immediately.

If every child was removed because things weren't good, where would they all go? There is a shortage of foster carers and placements for children and generally children are best placed in the care with their mothers and want to be with them. It is much cheaper in the long term to help mum to become a better parent than to spend on placements.

The baby’s life may have depended on the police finding her. It’s easy to criticise but they absolutely couldn’t sit on that information, a member of the public helpfully reporting a sighting was ultimately how they were found.

In this instance this is a woman who had access to financial resources who made a conscious decision to stay with a violent rapist - who violently assaulted one of her own children.

She made a choice. This isn’t about a mother being mentally unwell and not having access to resources. She could have left him and raised her children. She decided not to.

This is about a woman who stayed with a violent man when she didn’t have to.

She concealed her pregnancy and her child. Then she exposed that child to the elements and threw it away with the garbage after she caused it’s death.

The police did a brilliant job in finding them, obviously via reports from the public. The amount of people who go missing though you'd think it would have been impossible to locate them and finding them on all the cctv images must have been painstaking.

Tragically too late, seeing the baby being manhandled into a buggy that looked totally inappropriate for her size was awful to witness. I have no sympathy for either of them.

Well it did. They didn’t find them in time and she died

A friend of mine adopted a set of siblings who had a very traumatic beginning due to neglect , abuse and drug taking by their mum. They had to attend monthly contact meetings which traumatised them all. I don't think these contact sessions benefit the child, and as such, shouldn't happen.

No sympathy for her one jot. She had privileges most people can only dream of and pissed it up the wall to shack up with a rapist. They both deserve all they get.

Gorden threw her out of a window
is pure speculation with no proof at all. Gut feeling isn’t sufficient.

Exactly. If that member of the public hadn’t seen the coverage and reported a sighting they may never have been found at all.

You're bonkers. Had the police done nothing you'd be here bitching about that too.

They never should have been parents, and the only people that anyone should feel sorry for are the 5 poor children who are the victims amongst this mess.

He was a convicted rapist, that served 20 years in the US and described as extremely dangerous. She was a self entitled, spoilt brat who thought she could get away with whatever she wanted and was above the law.

Her family were providing her with over £3000 per month from a family trust. She had more means than most to provide her children with a safe and nuturing upbringing, but chose to put her psychopath partner above her own babies.

Despite having child after child, there was no attempt by either parent to improve their relationships with their children. They missed countless visitations. They popped out more kids, knowing rightly that the child would likely be taken from them, from their own actions or inactions (whichever way you want to look at it).

They had poor baby Victoria, who was born and spent her very first days in a freezing tent in the middle of winter, being pushed around in a baby gro whilst the parents had heavy winter coats on. They knew this behaviour would put their child at risk, yet they still embarked on this for weeks and weeks.

They then concealed the death of their so called "cherished" baby, and dumped her in a plastic bag alongside her soiled nappies, and continued on their way without alerting anybody. That baby probably died in pain.

Its all absolutely horrendous. And yes, I know that the mothers past may have some trauma, but what it all boils down to, is that she chose a monster continuously over her poor innocent children, who will now likely suffer their entire lives.

They can both rot in hell.

Social services don't remove children unless there are very good reasons to. Can you imagine the life the poor child would've had if they had manage to go abroad. It wouldn't of been a happy or safe one.

This background article on the parents is harrowing. Can't tell if it's the same one which has been posted before, I don't think so.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-f59836ed-24c7-481c-bfee-f39549487c64

Of course any parent would do anything to keep their baby with them. The problem is some parents don't have the capacity to keep their children safe. I think this couple unfortunately fit that bill. It doesn't mean they don't love their child, the phrase "necessary but not sufficient" comes to mind.

I think the police response was absolutely warranted. It doesn't seem to me that anything less would have encouraged them to keep the baby any safer. They already knew there was no chance of them keeping her. Ultimately even with the entire country looking for them they were too late.

WTAF.

I couldn’t disagree with you more, there are some people who you just can’t help, the police needed to find them and did what they could, but these two were selfish nutters who had already proven they couldn’t look after their first four children to the extent they were removed from them, and unfortunately they were well funded enough to be able to move around the country. It was a very unusual situation and the only people to blame are themselves. Their poor baby never stood a chance.

I was only thinking this yesterday. She had four children removed and was with a potentially violent man. Her state of mind and distrust of anyone official will have played a huge part.
I think she wanted this baby more than anything but the exhaustion of moving around and sleeping in a tent, which she was only doing out of fear, caused a baby's death.
I also think the Lidl bag is totally irrelevant, as the child had already died, and that's all they had.
She seems like a vulnerable woman, who has lost all her children, it's tragic really. I think her family have a lot to answer for too.

Was constance family funding her? Did they know her partners criminal history do you know?

They'd already had children removed and there would have been very good reason for that. This wasn't just a vulnerable woman in the post natal period. I would guess that if that was the case there would have been a more gentle approach. No one is to blame for the babies death other than the parents.

My God that is a distressing read. Poor child.

No OP few people agree with you. How would you find - a countrywide search -: a newborn and mother who possibly needed hospital treatment when you had no idea where to start? Below zero temperatures as well with every day increasing desperation to find them before the inevitable happened. YABVVVU.