I’ve never seen a case like Constance Marten and Mark Gordon’s – it was jaw-droppingpublished at 09:01 BST
09:01 BST
Helena Wilkinson
Reporting from the Old Bailey
I’ve reported on many criminal cases, but nothing like Constance Marten and Mark Gordon’s.
Their trials were extraordinary. A couple who were twice in the dock over the death of their newborn baby, they appeared to be completely in love and still fiercely united. And yet they had utter contempt for the court process.
They caused chaos across their two trials, which both overran by months. At one point, the Old Bailey’s most senior judge accused them of trying to “sabotage” and “manipulate” their retrial. It nearly collapsed a number of times.
Their behaviour – from refusing to turn up to court and claiming to be ill, to sacking countless barristers and Gordon’s trousers even being misplaced one day – left His Honour Judge Mark Lucraft KC exasperated on many occasions.
Now their case is over, we can report some of the remarkable moments when jurors were not in court. At times what happened across the trials was jaw-dropping.