A WOMAN who was raped by Mark Gordon at knifepoint when he was just 14 has claimed the vile fiend “deserves the death penalty”.
Gordon, 50, and Constance Marten, 37, were both jailed for 14 years each after killing their baby daughter while on the run from police.
Central NewsThe baby was taken across England as her parents evaded police[/caption]
AFPMark Gordon, 50,[/caption]
AFPConstance Marten was also jailed over her baby’s death[/caption]
The pair lived off-grid with baby Victoria after their four previous children were taken into care.
But the tragic tot died while living in a tent in the South Downs with hardly any clothes or “means of keeping or remaining warm”.
Victoria, who spent “much of her life” in a Lidl bag for life, was later discovered dead inside an abandoned shed which saw Gordon and Marten convicted of gross negligence manslaughter.
Now, a former victim of Gordon’s who was raped in Florida at knifepoint when he was just a teenager in April 1989, has spoken out.
The woman was 30 when her then-neighbour Gordon put her through a four-and-half hour nightmare while her young children were home in Miami.
Gordon, who was 14 at the time, broke into her house wearing a nylon stocking over his face and armed with a knife and hedge clippers before raping her.
The deeply traumatised victim told The Sun from the US: “I believe he deserves the death penalty.
“If that’s the best they can do, that’s it.”
His victim, now 66, previously branded him a “monster” who “took everything from me”.
She added: “Of course I’m disappointed that they will only serve 14 years.
“I’ve really tried to stay away from following the case and block it out because of what happened to me.”
On the day of the horrific rape, 14-year-old Gordon callously told his victim: “I’ll say goodbye to your children for you because today you’re gonna die.”
Sick Gordon ran a knife up and down her body and threatened to kill the family’s dog after it began to bark and scratch at her bedroom door.
He eventually allowed the woman to leave and she ran with her kids to neighbours, who called police.
Gordon escaped but was caught after attacking another neighbour with a shovel less than a month later.
Due to the gravity of his crimes, Florida’s judicial system treated him as an adult.
He pleaded not guilty to armed sexual battery, aggravated battery, armed kidnapping and burglary with a deadly weapon.
The fiend was sentenced in the US to 40 years in prison, but he only served 22 years before being deported to the UK.
It comes after Gordon and Marten were convicted of the manslaughter of baby Victoria and also found guilty of concealing their daughter’s birth and perverting the course of justice.
Gordon was also handed a four-year period on extended licence.
Marten gave birth to Victoria without seeking any medical assistance in early 2022 and kept her “their little secret”.
A 54-day hunt was launched for the pair after their burning car was discovered on the M61 motorway in Greater Manchester on January 5, 2023.
Officers tragically found placenta wrapped in a towel, “new baby” nappies and newborn clothing, as well as “burner phones”.
A missing person‘s enquiry was launched as the couple travelled across the UK with CCTV piecing together their movements.
PAThe pair were tracked across the county using CCTV[/caption]
PAThe remains of newborn Victoria were found in a disused shed in Brighton[/caption]
PAPolice made the tragic find days after Marten and partner Mark Gordon refused to say where their baby was[/caption]
At the sentencing, Constance’s step-dad Guy Sellier said in a letter read out to court: “I have known Constance since 1998 when I met and eventually married her mother. I had a close relationship with her until she met Mark Gordon and became estranged from the wider family.
“Constance is a rather fascinating woman. Fiercely independent. At times rebellious but with a big heart. Much empathy and a keen sense of adventure.
“She’s fundamentally a very generous and kind person.”
Constance’s father was a page to the late Queen, while her grandmother was a goddaughter to the Queen Mother.
Despite her connections, the couple chose to “deprive the baby of what she needed” – including “warmth, shelter and food and ultimately safety”.
In the middle of a “cold winter and in cruel and obviously dangerous weather conditions”, the pair “essentially went off-grid”.
With “scarcely” any food, Marten and Gordon remained on the run, failed to seek medical assistance or even register the birth as they moved from “location to location”.
CCTV pieced together the pair’s movements as they lived in a tent with barely any clothes and no means of keeping warm and dry.
On January 12 last year Marten was seen filling up a bottle with petrol before purchasing three packs of Jacob’s Mini Cheddars and a newspaper.
It is believed she planned to cremate baby Victoria after discovering her dead inside her coat but later changed her mind.
Police finally tracked the couple down to Brighton on February 27 but they refused to answer where the newborn was.
Tragically, Victoria was already lying dead in the bag for life – hidden under nappies and rubbish.
Dramatic bodycam footage captured the moment police swooped to arrest Marten and Gordon.
Timeline of baby ‘killing’ – how couple evaded cops
CONSTANCE Marten and Mark Gordon allegedly sparked a 54-day manhunt across the UK after vanishing with their baby Victoria.
Here’s how the pair’s journey began…
December 20, 2022
Marten and Gordon booked into a holiday cottage in Northumberland, with the rental due to end on Boxing Day. The owner told jurors he found the property in “something of a state” on December 28.
December 24, 2022
The couple claim their baby daughter was born this day but this has been disputed by prosecutors.
December 28, 2022
Their Suzuki broke down on the M18 motorway so a recovery driver took them to a nearby Sainsbury’s. There was allegedly no sign of the baby but the back and side windows of the car had been blocked by clothing.
January 4, 2023
Marten and Gordon checked into the Ibis hotel at the Lymm Services in Cheshire then later the AC Hotel in Manchester.
January 5, 2023
The couple’s Peugeot 206 catches fire on the M61 motorway in Greater Manchester. Police launch an urgent probe after finding placenta, burner phones and Marten’s passport, jurors were told.
She and Gordon are taken to a Morrisons store in Bolton by a member of the public before being seen on CCTV at the nearby Bolton Interchange station.
The couple allegedly use Marten’s trust for a taxi to Liverpool, then a £400 cab to Harwich in Essex.
Cab driver Ali Yaryar, who picked the couple up from Liverpool, told the court: “I think the baby had no clothes”.
January 6, 2023
The couple arrive in Harwich and check into a Premier Inn at around 3am. They later move to the Fryatt Hotel, where they paid in cash, it was said.
January 7, 2023
Marten and Gordon travel by taxi to Colchester then to East Ham in London. The couple allegedly buy a buggy from Argos then grab another cab to Whitechapel.
They ate in a Brick Lane restaurant then dump the new buggy – choosing instead to keep Victoria in a Lidl bag, jurors heard.
January 8, 2023
The couple spend £475 on a taxi from Hornsey to Newhaven in East Sussex and walk to the South Downs National Park.
January 9, 2023
Both Marten and Gordon claim baby Victoria died on this day – making her 16 days old, the court was told. It is said there is no way of knowing this for sure.
January 12, 2023
Marten is captured buying snacks and petrol with cash but there was no sign of the baby. Prosecutors say she bought the fuel to cremate the baby but changed her mind.
January 16, 2023
Marten and Gordon are seen setting up a tent in Stanmer Park Nature Reserve in the South Downs despite the cold weather.
February 16/17, 2023
The couple are spotted near Hollingbury Golf Course in rural Sussex allegedly pushing a buggy with no baby. Their tent is later seen in Coldean Lane in Brighton
A driver sees the pair walking towards Stanmer Park with something under Marten’s puffer jacket, the court heard.
February 19, 2023
Gordon and Marten are allegedly seen in their tent in the park with a very young baby with a “wobbly” head. Jurors told the baby had no socks, blanket or hat on.
February 27, 2023
The couple are arrested in Hollingbury Place in Brighton but do not reveal Victoria’s location at first, it is said.
March 1, 2023
Tragic Victoria is found dead in a Lidl bag covered in rubbish inside a disused shed “like refuse”, the court is told.
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