Constance Marten – latest: Couple have not told police where missing baby is as residents asked to check gardens

Missing aristocrat Constance Marten and her partner Mark Gordon are in police custody after being arrested in Brighton on suspicion of child neglect, officers have confirmed.

Metropolitan Police said an urgent search operation is underway to find their baby as DSI Lewis Bashford revealed that the couple have not told them, where the baby is or even its gender.

He said: “They [Marten and Gordon] have been arrested on suspicion of child neglect and there is a search for the baby. We are looking at open land, outbuildings where they may have placed the baby while they were in the local area before we arrested them.”

The pair were located by officers from Sussex Police in Stanmer Villas, Brighton on Monday night after a member of the public reported seeing them shortly before 9.30pm.

Ms Marten, 35, and Gordon, 48, have been travelling around the UK by taxi since their car was found burning on the M61 in Bolton, Greater Manchester, on 5 January.

Ms Marten’s father, Napier Marten, issued emotional pleas to his daughter to come home via The Independent last month.

Key points

• Couple have not told police where missing baby is as residents asked to check gardens

• Police arrest aristocrat Constance Marten and partner Mark Gordon

• Police search woods for missing baby

• Metropolitan and Sussex police forces searching ‘vast area’ for missing baby

• Urgent search for missing baby, police seek public support

Couple have not told police where missing baby is as residents asked to check gardens

09:58 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

DSI Lewis Bashford from the Met Police revealed that the couple have not told them, where the baby is or even its gender.

He said: “They [Marten and Gordon] have been arrested on suspicion of child neglect and there is a search for the baby. We are looking at open land, outbuildings where they may have placed the baby while they were in the local area before we arrested them.”

He added: “We’ve got to keep the hope that maybe they have allowed somebody else to care for the baby who thinks they are doing some good on behalf of the couple but as we know, as the temperature drops and the longer the baby goes without parents the risks are high.”

Watch: Police search woods for missing baby

10:25 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Police are searching the woods in northern Brighton for the missing baby of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon.

Metropolitan and Sussex police forces searching ‘vast area’ for missing baby

09:48 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

A huge search is under way for a two-month-old baby after missing aristocrat Constance Marten and her sex offender boyfriend Mark Gordon were arrested in Brighton.

The couple have been avoiding police since the infant was born in early January, moving around the country, paying for everything in cash and covering their faces when on CCTV.

They were finally arrested at around 9.30pm on Monday by officers from Sussex Police in Stanmer Villas, Brighton, after a tip-off from a member of the public, but the baby was not with them.

Senior investigating officer Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford told BBC Breakfast that officers from the Metropolitan and Sussex police forces are searching a huge area of land to try to find the infant.

The couple are known to have travelled long distances during the time they have been missing and the BBC reported they were seen in Newhaven a few days ago.

Mr Basford said: “It is a vast area and at present we are looking in the local vicinity to where the couple were arrested last night, seeking a shelter or location for where they may have been holed up and hopefully where the baby is present.

“The arrest location was close to open land and the couple were moving towards that land. And that’s why we are focusing heavily on where we are right now.

“We know that they travel, we know they travel long distances.

“My plea to the members of the public here in Brighton and crossing over towards Newhaven is please be vigilant in the open land where you are, in the outbuildings that you may have on your own property, and assist us in that way by being vigilant.”

Constance Marten: Police swarm Brighton in search for missing baby

08:48 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Police are sweeping Brighton this morning in their efforts to locate Constance Marten‘s baby after she was found without the infant.

The runaway aristocrat and her boyfriend, a convicted sex offender, were arrested after they were located in Brighton alone.

Officials have expressed concern for the health of the baby amid increasingly chilly conditions.

Searches are focused in the area where the couple was found, according to Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford.

This footage shows the early morning scene as officers work to find the newborn.

Constance Marten: Police swarm Brighton in search for missing baby

ICYMI- ‘Beyond painful’: Estranged father of runaway aristocrat pleads with daughter to turn herself in

08:10 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

In case you missed it...

Napier Marten, a film and music producer, previously urged his daughter Constance to take herself and the child to safety as soon as possible via The Independent.

Mark Gordon, the partner of Ms Marten, was jailed in the late 1980s in Florida, US, after raping and assaulting a woman when he was 14. After serving a 20-year sentence he was deported back to the UK in 2010, it emerged on Wednesday.

Appealing to his daughter, Mr Marten said: “I want you to understand that you are much much loved whatever the circumstances. We are deeply concerned for your and your baby’s welfare”.

Read our story here:

‘Beyond painful’: Dad of runaway aristocrat pleads with daughter to turn herself in

Who are Constance Marten and Mark Gordon?

07:40 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Constance Marten, who is from a wealthy aristocratic family, was a promising drama student when she first met Mark Gordon in 2016.

Since then the couple have led an isolated life, and in September, when Miss Marten was well into her pregnancy, began moving around rental flats.

Gordon served 20 years in prison in the US for rape and battery committed when he was 14.

It is unknown if their baby was full-term or has any health issues.

Anyone who may be able to assist in the search for the couple’s baby is urged to contact 999.

ICYMI: Full details of Constance Marten’s rapist boyfriend’s violent sex crimes

07:15 , Namita Singh

Harrowing details of the crimes committed by convicted sex offender Mark Gordon, who went missing with an aristocrat and their newborn baby, have been revealed in court documents obtained by The Independent.

Mark Gordon, the partner of Ms Marten, was jailed in the late 1980s in Florida, US, after raping and assaulting a woman when he was 14 years old. After serving a 20-year sentence, he was deported back to the UK in 2010.

The Independent has obtained 23 pages of confidential US court documents that reveal how the 48-year-old, who was born in Birmingham, UK, carried out his violent attack on his neighbour as a Florida teenager more than three decades ago.

Report:

Convicted rapist Mark Gordon’s sex crimes revealed

ICYMI: Runaway aristocrat’s father calls for inquiry into Nigerian cult

06:45 , Namita Singh

Constance Marten’s estranged father has called for the police to investigate her links with a Nigerian cult church following claims that she was allegedly “brainwashed” there.

In an appeal, Napier Marten has urged officers to probe Ms Marten’s time at the Synagogue, Church of All Nations in Lagos, where she lived for six months under the rule of TB Joshua, a “phoney prophet” who is alleged to have abused his “disciples”.

His plea came after The Independent spoke to a former member of the church who claims that those who lived at the church were damaged by the experience.

My colleague Thomas Kingsley has more:

Missing aristocrat’s father calls for inquiry into cult where she was ‘brainwashed’

ICYMI: Inside cult linked to Constance Marten

06:15 , Namita Singh

Constance Marten, held by the police along with her partner Mark Gordon on Monday, may have been brainwashed at a Nigerian church where “disciples” were allegedly abused by the group’s self-proclaimed prophet, said a social worker helping the “victims”.

The aristocrat, who was on the run since early January, is said to have been left confused and traumatised after spending six months at the Synagogue, Church of All Nations (SCOAN) in Lagos, where she would have been forced to undergo “intense” work running the church while living in dormitories alongside some 100 other disciples, many of whom are thought to be British nationals.

On one occasion, the 35-year-old was apparently forced to eat the leftovers of the church’s “prophet” and controversial leader, TB Joshua.

Another time, she was placed in social exile – the customary punishment for disciples who were not “focused enough” on the church leader, or who spoke about their former lives.

Read the details in this report:

Abuse at the hands of ‘phoney prophet’: Inside cult linked to Constance Marten

In video: Missing aristocrat Constance Marten and partner Mark Gordon in police custody

05:45 , Namita Singh

Urgent search for missing baby, police seek public support

05:15 , Namita Singh

The Metropolitan Police have sought support from the public as they continue to search for the month-old baby of aristocrat Constance Marten and her partner Mark Gordon.

“The baby is still missing and we are working with [Sussex Police] to carry out an urgent search of the area,” tweeted the Met Police.

“Please call 999 with any information.”

11 key facts about the disappearance of runaway aristocrat Constance Marten

05:13 , Namita Singh

Aristocrat Constance Marten and her partner Mark Gordon have been arrested in Brighton on Monday after several weeks of police searches.

On 5 January Ms Marten, Gordon and their newborn baby went missing, abandoning a broken-down car which was later found in flames on the M61 near Bolton.

Since then the trio were traced to Sussex, where they were last spotted on 12 January, but managed to avoid detection.

Here are 11 facts about the case:

11 key facts about the disappearance of runaway aristocrat Constance Marten

Police arrest aristocrat Constance Marten and partner Mark Gordon but baby still missing

04:55 , Namita Singh

Police have arrested missing aristocrat Constance Marten and her partner Mark Gordon in Brighton after a weeks-long search.

An operation to locate their newborn baby, however, remains underway, said the Metropolitan Police.

The pair were located by officers from Sussex Police in Stanmer Villas, Brighton on Monday night after a member of the public reported seeing them shortly before 9.30pm.

More in this report:

Police arrest aristocrat Constance Marten and partner Mark Gordon, baby still missing

04:38 , Namita Singh

Welcome to The Independent’s live blog for Tuesday, 28 February 2023, where we provide the latest update on the police search around the missing baby of aristocrat heiress Constance Marten and her partner Mark Gordon.