A couple have denied the manslaughter of their baby girl.

Constance Marten, 35, and Mark Gordon, 48, pleaded not guilty to five counts relating to daughter Victoria during a hearing at the Old Bailey on Thursday.

They are charged with the manslaughter by gross negligence of the girl, referred to in the charges as Baby A, between January 4 and February 27.

They also face charges of perverting the course of justice by concealing the body, concealing the birth of a child, child cruelty and allowing the death of a child.

They had been missing since 5 January and were arrested in Brighton on 27 February.

Victoria’s body was discovered on March 1, wrapped in a plastic bag under some nappies in an unlocked shed near to an overgrown allotment plot.

The couple are expected to stand trial at the Old Bailey on January 2. A further pre-trial hearing was listed for 8 December.

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The couple were reported missing after their car broke down near junction four of the M61, near Bolton, on Thursday 5 January.

The pair were spotted in Brighton by a member of the public just before 9.30pm on 27 February.

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