First images from major search for lost baby after aristocrat and boyfriend arrested

Over 200 police are engaged in a search operation for a missing newborn within a 10-mile radius of where the mum of the child and her partner were arrested last night.

Aristocrat Constance Marten and her partner Mark Gordon were arrested on suspicion of child neglect in Brighton last night after a member of the public reported seeing them just before 9:30pm, however, while the couple was arrested, the baby was not with them.

Police search teams in Roedale Valley Allotments, Brighton, where an urgent search operation is underway to find the missing baby of Constance Marten (PA Wire/PA Images)

The pair, aged 35 and 48 respectively, had been on the run for several weeks before they were detained in Stanmer Villas. They had been avoiding the police since their newborn child was born in early July, avoiding detection by only using cash and hiding their faces on CCTV.

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Witnesses who saw the arrest described Gordon being pinned to the ground as Marten pleaded with officers to release him, saying: "He's not well".

The pair had been travelling around the UK by taxi since their car was found burning on the M61 in Bolton, Greater Manchester, on January 5. (PA Wire/PA Images)

Her father, the aristocrat Napier Marten, spoke about his “immense relief” following the news his daughter had been found, however, the film and music producer added that news was “tempered by the very alarming news her baby has yet to be found”.

Napier is the son of Mary Anna Marten, who was the goddaughter of the late Queen Elizabeth.

It is believed that both the mother and child have not seen a doctor since prior to the pregnancy. Furthermore, authorities are unaware of the sex of the child and are carrying out tests on the placenta that they found in a car the couple abandoned on the M61 in Bolton on January 5.

BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE Handout file photo issued by the Metropolitan Police of a CCTV image dated 07/01/23 of Mark Gordon and Constance Marten on Whitechapel Road in London. An urgent search operation is underway to find the missing baby of aristocrat Constance Marten, who has not had any medical attention since birth in early January. Ms Marten and her partner Mark Gordon are in police custody after being arrested in Brighton. Issue date: Tuesday February 28, 2023. (PA Wire/PA Images)

The search is currently stretched out between Brighton and Newhaven. Residents in the area have been asked to check their sheds and outhouses.

A pair of pink child's earmuffs are found in Roedale Valley Allotments, Brighton, where an urgent search operation is underway (PA Wire/PA Images)

Speaking to The Mirror, a Met Police spokesperson said: "Whilst we hold hope that the baby is still alive, we agree that the risk to the baby is extremely high.

"More than 200 officers have been engaged in the search and officers arrived within six minutes after the 999 call yesterday that led to the arrests of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon."

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