Julia QuenzlerConstance Marten has heavily criticised her wealthy "biological family" in an extraordinary cross-examination carried out by her partner and fellow defendant Mark Gordon during their retrial at the Old Bailey.
She accused her family of prejudice, and hiring private detectives to follow her.
Gordon, who is not legally trained, was able to cross-examine his partner after submitting his questions to the judge and receiving approval. He is no longer using barristers in the trial and is instead representing himself.
Marten, 37, and Gordon, 50, both deny manslaughter by gross negligence over the death of their child, Victoria, whose body was found in a Brighton shed in March 2023.
They also deny causing or allowing the death of a child. The couple have four other children who have been removed by social services.
They were previously found guilty of concealing Victoria's birth and perverting the course of justice by not reporting her death, but the jury could not come to a verdict on the outstanding charges. A retrial began in March.
Under questioning by Gordon in court on Thursday, Marten described how "all hell broke loose" with her family when she returned from Peru pregnant with her first child in 2017.
She said she had become "very fearful" after their car "exploded" in January 2023. She said 15 previous vehicles had also malfunctioned in mysterious circumstances, and that they had found a GPS tracker on at least one of them.
She also mentioned an unnamed family member who she felt "doesn't want me alive" after Marten had spoken out about them in the past.
The jury heard that the couple had been living in a tent in Wales before the birth of Victoria. The couple's other children had been removed from them by then.
"The only reason we ended up in Wales was because of this person who I am convinced was behind the explosion of the car," Marten said.
She said her family had hired two firms of private detectives and it had felt "like a cat and mouse game".
Some of her relatives saw her as an embarrassment, she told the court, adding that "some people from privilege think they are above the rules".
"You are up against these people who will stop at nothing, and have endless resources and connections, and I don't think I can get away from them."
She said her family trust had also told her that "if you have still got that black boyfriend with you, you are never going to get a property".
She also said that she and Gordon had "received a huge amount of prejudice from people, especially from my family".
Marten said the police manhunt that began after their car caught fire following Victoria's birth meant that people started recognising them, so they decided to go and sleep in a tent on the South Downs.
"It was just a pitstop for a few days to get away from prying eyes," she said.
In response to Gordon asking if she intended to cause the baby harm, Marten replied: "No, of course not."
When asked if the baby was always a priority, she said "absolutely" and that was why they had wanted to keep her for longer as opposed to having her also be taken away.
"She was a big baby. Healthy. Strong," she said.
Prosecutors have alleged Victoria died from hypothermia or was smothered while co-sleeping in the tent. They have argued that the infant was inadequately clothed and that Marten got wet while carrying the baby under her coat.
Marten has told the jury Victoria died in the tent after a couple of days, after she fell asleep over her.
In response to Gordon's questions on this, she said: "I just blacked out. I flopped forward with my forehead on the floor. I guess that could have happened anywhere."
Gordon asked: "Was it clear from the position of the baby that the baby in relation to yourself had been asphyxiated?"
She replied saying: "That was my assumption because of the position I woke up in.
"I don't know how she died but that was my assumption."
In the weeks following the death, she said the couple went on sleeping in the tent, moving around every few days. They carried their dead daughter's body with them in a Lidl bag.
Marten faced the prosecutor's cross-examination in the afternoon. She repeatedly accused Joel Smith KC of being patronising.
Mr Smith asked her about hiding her baby's body under some rubbish in a shopping bag, saying: "It was a quite despicable thing to do to her body wasn't it?"
Marten replied: "If you are going to go down that route that shows the sort of person you are."
She then also later said: "To be quite honest your honour, I am tired of this whole process. I just find him [Smith] abhorrent. I just don't like the way he talks to me."
Towards the end of the session, she said: "I am so sorry I am not going to continue. I am at breaking point. I understand that I am being prosecuted but I am not going to sit here and be spoken to like that."
The judge warned her that if she stopped giving evidence it might affect how her earlier evidence could be viewed.
The trial is set to continue next Tuesday.
