Police update appeal for missing couple and newborn baby as concern ‘continues to grow’
Police have updated an appeal to trace a missing couple and their baby, as it is believed they are camping out in the Sussex countryside.
Constance Marten, 35, and Mark Gordon, 48, and their newborn baby went missing in early January.
A month after the car they were travelling in was found on the M61, police have appealed directly to them to get in touch.
Constance Marten and Mark Gordon
Concerns grow ‘day by day’
Officers said the previous offer of a £10,000 reward for any new information on the trio’s whereabouts is still active, and reiterated that concern for the individual’s wellbeing “continues to grow”.
Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford said the baby is “at the heart of the investigation” and that concerns are rising “day by day” for the child’s wellbeing.
He said the public should be aware that the couple have made an effort to remain inconspicuous, and that their “change of disguise” as well as movement and “shielding” of the baby has made it hard to locate them.
“We know they’ve worn masks, we know they’ve changed coats at various times just within the two to three days since the Met Police have taken the inquiry and followed them,” he said.
He added that the couple have “now removed the stroller” and are “more aware and paranoid that actually the police and members of the public will be more cognisant of a baby”.
CCTV footage of the couple in Newhaven, East Sussex
In a message to the couple, Det Supt Basford said: “Constance and Mark, your baby has spent the first month of its short life exposed to the elements when it should be safe and warm and, most importantly, seen by medics.
“After a month you must be running low on cash. Please pick up the phone and let us know, at the very least, that you are okay. We are ready to come to you and see that you and the baby get medical attention.
“We know that the baby was still alive on 8 January and finding the baby remains our top priority.”
He also appealed particularly to those who may have spent time in the countryside near Newhaven and elsewhere in Sussex, where the couple are believed to be camping.
He urged that any detail, no matter how small, was important, including if an individual gave the couple directions or saw them buying food, drink or nappies.
Ms Marten, who is from a wealthy family, has lived an isolated life with Mr Gordon, a convicted sex offender, since they met in 2016.
It is thought most of the couple’s belongings were destroyed in the blaze that affected their vehicle.
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Since then, Ms Marten and Mr Gordon have taken a taxi to Liverpool, and from there to Harwich in Essex. They have also been seen in east London, before travelling to north London and then on to East Sussex.
Pictures released on 8 January showed the pair walking near Brick Lane, east London, at around 11.45pm where they dumped a pushchair.
Constance Marten entering Flower and Dean Walk, east London
Carrying bags near Brick Lane, east London
When spotted in East Sussex, they were carrying bags containing a two-man tent, sleeping bags and pillows that they had bought from Argos.
The last known sighting of the pair was at 6.15am on 8 January, where they walked along Cantercrow Hill, East Sussex, into the fields beyond.
They were carrying a number of bags and their blue tent, although given the time that’s passed they could have moved some considerable distance.
The government has been temporarily blocked from concluding the Chagos Islands deal by a late-night High Court injunction.
Ministers had been expected to complete a deal that would have seen the UK hand over sovereignty of the archipelago to Mauritius in the coming hours.
But in an emergency injunction granted early on Thursday, brought against the Foreign Office, Mr Justice Goose allowed “interim relief” to Bertrice Pompe, who had previously taken steps to bring legal action over the deal.
Ms Pompe is a Chagossian woman who sees the deal as a betrayal of their rights.
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The order, granted at 2.25am, states the government may take “no conclusive or legally binding step to conclude its negotiations concerning the possible transfer of the British Indian Ocean Territory, also known as the Chagos Archipelago, to a foreign government or bind itself as to the particular terms of any such transfer”.
A hearing is taking place at the High Court this morning, with crowds gathered in support of the block.
The location of the Chagos Islands
The government insisted this morning the Chagos Islands deal is the “right thing” for the UK.
A spokesperson said: “We do not comment on ongoing legal cases. This deal is the right thing to protect the British people and our national security.”
It was expected that Sir Keir Starmer would attend a virtual ceremony today to formally hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, despite heavy criticism from the Conservatives and Reform UK.
The government has argued international legal rulings in favour of Mauritius mean this handover is necessary.
As part of the deal, the UK will lease back a military base on the archipelago for 99 years.
Robert Jenrick, the former justice secretary, told Sky News that the Chagos Islands deal is a “sell-out for British interests”.
He said: “You’re seeing British sovereign territory being given away to an ally of China and billions of pounds of British taxpayers money being spent for the privilege.
“So, if this group can force the government to think twice, then all power to them.”
With this injunction in place, Sir Keir can no longer legally complete the deal.
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Ms Pompe, who filed the application for interim relief, believes the British government is acting with disregard for the human rights of the Chagossian people.
She has argued completion of the deal would amount to a breach of the Human Rights Act and the Equality Act.
Chagossians are the former residents of the Chagos Islands, who were removed from the islands, predominantly to Mauritius, between the mid-1960s and early-1970s.
Those born on the islands and their children hold British nationality, but subsequent generations born outside British territory have no entitlement to it.
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