Search continues for aristocrat’s baby as fears grow for its safety
An urgent search for the baby of aristocrat Constance Marten and her partner Mark Gordon is continuing amid growing fears for the child’s safety.
Marten and Gordon were arrested in Brighton on Monday on suspicion of child neglect after being spotted by a member of the public at about 9.30pm.
They were further arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter on Tuesday.
More than 200 police officers are looking for the child and they have been concentrating on an allotment and woodland in the city.
A helicopter, sniffer dogs, thermal cameras and drones have joined the search, which has widened to include the area towards Newhaven.
Marten, 35, and Gordon, 48, were reported missing on 5 January after their car caught fire on the M61, near Bolton.
It is believed Marten had given birth just a few days before.
They were spotted multiple times in the days that followed, including in Liverpool, Essex, south London and East Sussex.
Mark Gordon and Constance Marten
Concerns about their baby grew as it is not thought to have had any medical care.
Read more:
From Liverpool to Brighton – mapping the sightings
CCTV breakthrough suggests couple ‘sleeping in tent’
Police are searching Roedale Valley Allotments in Brighton
Met Police Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford said the couple had not given them information about the child’s whereabouts or even disclosed its gender.
“We now have to consider the possibility that the baby has come to harm,” he told reporters.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Missing couple moments before arrest
He said he still hoped the baby could be found alive but that the cold weather was an obvious risk to its safety.
“Clearly the risk is getting higher… this may not end in the way we would like, but we need to remain hopeful,” he said.
He added they were still open-minded about the possibility the child may have been given to someone else to look after.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Police search for missing baby
Chief Superintendent James Collis, from Sussex Police, said the search area was “vast” at about 91 square miles and centred on land between Brighton and Newhaven – about seven miles further down the coast.
He also appealed for people to contact the force with any information or potential sightings over the last few weeks.
Marten’s father, Napier Marten, told The Independent it was “an immense relief” to know the couple had been located but “very alarming news her baby has yet to be found”.
Jess Phillips has said “nothing is off the table” when dealing with the grooming gangs scandal – including a new national inquiry if victims want one.
The safeguarding minister told Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast that she would listen to victims on a new panel that was announced by the government this week.
“Nothing is off the table,” she said.
“And if the victims come forward to me in this victims panel and they say, ‘actually, we think there needs to be a national inquiry into this’, I’ll listen to them.”
Politics latest: Tories told to ‘put up or shut up’
Her comments come days after it emerged she had rejected calls from Oldham Council to hold a government inquiry into grooming gangs in the town, and said the council should commission one instead.
That has led to tech billionaire Elon Musk attacking her and Sir Keir Starmer for not holding a national inquiry and accusing the prime minister of being “complicit” in the abuse.
Professor Alexis Jay finished an eight-year national inquiry into child sexual abuse in 2022 and set out recommendations for the government.
Read more:
What happened in the grooming gangs scandal?
Why the Tories’ attempts to force inquiry won’t work
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Education sec ‘not interested’ in Musk comments
The Conservatives tabled an amendment to the Children’s Safeguarding and Schools Bill on Wednesday to require a statutory inquiry into grooming gangs.
However, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told Sky News the Tories “don’t care about children” as the amendment could prevent the entire bill from going forward.
She said: “The measures that I’m setting out today and the legislation in many ways go further because it puts a requirement on all councils to have teams working to keep children safe.
“And the bandwagon jumpers that have come along in recent days, they don’t care about children, they don’t care about making sure that we stop this and we take action.
“They had years to do it and they didn’t do it.”
The Conservatives also rejected a call from Oldham Council for a government inquiry in 2022.
You can listen to Beth’s full interview with Jess Phillips in a special episode of Electoral Dysfunction released on Thursday.
The 14-year-old who was stabbed to death on a bus in southeast London yesterday has been named as Kelyan Bokassa.
He was stabbed to death on a bus in Woolwich Church Street, close to the Woolwich Ferry, just before 2.30pm on Tuesday.
The teenager died at the scene shortly after medical help arrived.
The Metropolitan Police called the stabbing a “horrific attack,” while London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan said the “heart-breaking violence has absolutely no place in our city”.
No arrests have been made so far but officers are appealing for witnesses who were on the 472 bus.
Tributes were left to the teenager, who was a student at St Columba’s Catholic Boys School. Pic: PA
An aspiring rapper, 14-year-old Kelyan was also “briefly” a student at St Columba’s Catholic Boys School in Bexleyheath.
The South East London Catholic Academy Trust said in a statement it was “saddened by the loss of life” and added: “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this difficult time.
“Our schools will provide support to any of the students who may be affected by this senseless violence.”
Read more from Sky News:
Amber warning for snow issued
West Ham sack head coach
Mary Bokassa, the boy’s mother, also told MailOnline that he and others “were taken advantage by gangs” and “were groomed”.
She told the outlet: “He was missing for a year and was living on the street. He finally turned up at my doorstep, he was sick, underweight and tattooed.
“He was exposed to drugs. He probably experienced something because I could sense it. He was not himself. If I questioned him, he wouldn’t tell me anything about his friends.”
Detective Chief Inspector Martin Thorpe, who is leading the investigation, said: “Following Kelyan’s tragic death yesterday, specialist officers are now leading the investigation which is progressing at pace.
“If anyone saw this horrific attack or was in the area then I urge them to come forward and speak to officers.
“We’re particularly interested in any mobile phone footage that captured this incident or any dash cam or doorbell footage from around the surrounding area at the time of this incident.”
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports9 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway