by Jurors have seen the first glimpse of a newborn baby who died after her parents went on the run.
Constance Marten, 36, and her partner Mark Gordon, 49, are on trial at the Old Bailey accused of murdering baby Victoria.
The couple allegedly traveled across England and lived off the grid to try and keep their daughter after caring for four other children.
They made front page news last January when Greater Manchester Police launched a missing persons inquiry after finding placentas in the couple’s burnt-out car on a motorway near Bolton.
The defendants spent hundreds of pounds on taxis taking them from the North West to Essex and on to east London, the Old Bailey has heard.
Last February, Marten and Gordon were arrested in East Sussex and baby Victoria’s body was found in a Lidl supermarket bag covered in rubbish inside a disused shed.
Previously, the couple’s CCTV appeared to show a bulge in which the baby was curled up under Marten’s coat and wrapped in a blanket or towel.
On Tuesday, jurors were shown footage clearly showing the dark-haired child dressed as a baby, with her hands and arms moving around.
Cab driver Colette Franklin, who took the defendants from Harwich to Colchester for £30, described how Gordon “slid in his seat” when a police car approached.
On reaching East Ham, Gordon took the child out of another cabin to Marten, who was standing by the door.
Baby Victoria’s fingers were seen in the footage curling and moving around.
Further CCTV of Marten standing in the street showed her removing her jacket to reveal the child.
She seemed to be cradling the baby in her arms to comfort her.
Jurors then watched a clip of Gordon buying a buggy in Argos while Marten sat at a table in a German donor’s kebab shop.
When Gordon returned, Marten put the baby down, wrapped in a red scarf.
Prosecutor Joel Smith told jurors: “You can see Ms Marten putting the Buggy together and the child’s hands moving to her left.”
Gordon sat in the dock and covered his face with his hand as the footage was shown in court.
His defense counsel, John Femi-Ola KC, spoke to him briefly and asked for a short break as his client was getting “quite stressed”.
Marten, who was later caught on camera buying a dummy in Boots, did not attend court for his trial.
Jurors were told the couple drove on to Whitechapel, where Gordon bought a tent at Argos before heading to Newhaven in East Sussex.
CCTV footage showed Gordon in the shop wearing plastic bags over his shoes.
Jurors were shown a receipt for the purchase of items including a “proactive unicorn” sleeping bag for children and a tent worth £91.51 paid in cash.
Last January 12, Marten was caught on film at a Texaco garage in East Sussex, jurors were told.
After that it was a “cold trail” until last February 20 when they were seen near a golf course clubhouse, Mr Smith said.
He told jurors that at the time Gordon was using a branch as a converted walking stick and the defendants were “rummaging through bins”.
They were finally tracked down on the outskirts of Brighton, where they were arrested on February 27 last.
Dog walker Paul Rogers told the court he saw the defendants near Hollingbury golf course in Brighton.
He said: “As I got closer to them I noticed they looked a bit disheveled, a bit dirty, maybe homeless.
“The man was carrying plastic bags, a bag in each hand. The woman was pushing a buggy. There was nothing else with them.
“I don’t remember if there was anything in the buggy.”
Mr Smith asked: “At any point, did you see or hear a child?”
Mr Rogers said: “No, no.”
Driver Tim Morris was in Coldean Lane, Brighton, on the morning of February 18 last when he saw a couple who he thought were the defendants, the court was told.
He told jurors: “What I noticed about the woman was that she was wearing a big coat and something underneath. The coat was made up.
“I immediately thought there was a baby under the coat and it was keeping him warm.
“It seemed strange that she was far behind (the man) and almost pulling her heels. It didn’t seem right.
“I said to my partner ‘They look like that couple on the news’ and she said ‘Yes, there’s definitely something about the coat and it could be a bit ‘un’.”
The defendants, of no fixed address, are denying manslaughter by gross negligence on the girl between January 4 and February 27 last year.
They are also charged with perverting the course of justice, concealing the birth of a child, cruelty to a child and causing or allowing the death of a child.
