Systemic gaps in assist for folks whose youngsters are faraway from their care helped drive runaway heiress Constance Marten to cover her being pregnant – with 1000’s extra youngsters in danger, consultants have warned.
A serious report into the dying of child Victoria Marten, who died in a tent on the South Downs in Sussex after her dad and mom took her on the run in a bid to keep away from her being taken into care, referred to as for an finish to the “destructive cycle” of oldsters concealing new pregnancies after shedding different youngsters to the system.
Marten, born to a rich aristocratic household, and her accomplice Mark Gordon, a convicted rapist who served 20 years in a Florida jail, are every serving 14 years for the gross negligence manslaughter of Victoria.
The toddler’s lifeless physique was discovered stashed in a rubbish-filled provider bag after her dad and mom had been captured following weeks on the run.
Now, a nationwide youngster safeguarding assessment has referred to as for pressing motion to assist forestall additional tragedies, warning 5,360 youngsters aged beneath one are topic to youngster safety plans (CPPs) in England, together with 1,430 unborn infants.
The assessment discovered:
- “Systemic gaps” in post-removal assist left Marten and Gordon “isolated and unsupported” after their first 4 youngsters had been taken into care
- Sex offenders like Gordon needs to be topic to more durable notification necessities, together with telling police in the event that they or their accomplice turns into pregnant
- Marten claims she was “given ultimatums, rather than true assistance” by social providers within the years main as much as her child’s dying
- Despite proof of home abuse – together with Marten sustaining life-threatening accidents whereas pregnant – professionals had been “confounded” by her “insular and co-dependent” relationship with a intercourse offender
Victoria – the couple’s fifth youngster – was delivered in secret in December 2022, after the pair went on the run to cease her from being taken into care like their 4 older youngsters.
They frantically travelled the nation throughout a significant police search, earlier than settling off-grid in Sussex in a flimsy tent, the place the susceptible new child died in bitterly chilly situations.
Marten, 38, and Gordon, 51, claimed the toddler died in a tragic accident after she fell asleep on her within the tent. But the pair had been convicted of manslaughter, youngster cruelty, concealing the delivery of a kid and perverting the course of justice after jurors heard they hid Victoria’s decomposing physique in a provider bag, which they left in a disused allotment shed.
Jailing them final 12 months, decide Mark Lucraft KC mentioned the dad and mom had been responsible of the “gravest and most serious” neglect, including: “Neither of you gave much if any thought to the care or welfare of your baby: your focus was on yourselves.”
A assessment, revealed on Thursday by the nationwide Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel, mentioned Victoria’s arrival was a part of “a repeating pattern with devastating consequences”.
Marten’s first two youngsters had been taken into care in January 2020 and her subsequent two youngsters had been eliminated at delivery.
Each being pregnant concerned better concealment and disengagement with youngster safety providers, culminating in Victoria’s secret delivery and dying, the report discovered.
Panel chair Sir David Holmes mentioned a “critical lesson” to be taught from the tragedy was that “keeping children safe by removing them with just cause from their parents only serves to protect those children”.
He added: “It does not address the root of the problem, and it does not prevent the same set of circumstances from happening again. Indeed, it may increase the risk of harm for the next child, not yet born, not yet even conceived.”
The report referred to as for a better concentrate on supporting dad and mom to course of the “loss and grief” of successive youngster removals, noting there’s presently no assist out there.
“Parental coping strategies will vary from individual to individual, but the successive removal of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon’s children may have reinforced their perception of harm caused by children’s social care, making the concealment of Victoria feel subjectively ‘rational’,” the report mentioned.
Sir David added: “A key lesson from baby Victoria’s story is clear: to protect vulnerable babies better, we must support their parents too.
“That may be hard to hear and hard to understand, but it is essential if we are to stop cycles of harm from repeating.”
Marten informed the assessment that “nothing was done” to assist her after shedding her youngsters and steered a confidential service – separate from the native authority – needs to be out there to folks.
Asked how properly youngster safeguarding companies perceive the affect of getting a baby eliminated, she added: “Not at all, the local authority see their role as complete once removal is achieved. In fact people can be supported and can change which should result in children being returned and supported.”
She described seeing a baby at a contact centre “one of the most painful experiences for a parent to endure”, however mentioned there was no assist out there after visits.
The assessment additionally recognized two missed alternatives when authorities ought to have intervened additional. This included Gordon’s arrest for assaulting two law enforcement officials in a hospital in 2017 and a severe incident in 2019, which noticed Marten fall from a window whereas pregnant together with her third youngster.
She spent eight days in hospital being handled for a shattered spleen and lacerations to a kidney. A household courtroom concluded the autumn was an incident of home abuse, however she has repeatedly denied this.
“Constance Marten’s confident presentation, denial of abuse and reluctance to engage with services, all masked her own vulnerability,” the report discovered.
The panel mentioned that, though Victoria’s dying was not predictable, points reminiscent of hid pregnancies, repeated youngster removals, home abuse, poor engagement with providers, severe offending, and frequent strikes between completely different areas are frequent in severe safeguarding circumstances.
In a sequence of suggestions, the assessment referred to as for higher engagement with and assist for folks earlier than and after youngster removing, to assist break cycles of hurt and scale back repeat danger.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/constance-marten-mark-gordon-care-failings-victoria-b2918478.html