UK couple to remain jailed after baby’s remains found in bag
Legal Resource Links
A couple whose disappearance sparked a nationwide search in England were ordered to remain in custody Friday after evidence presented during a court hearing revealed that the remains of an infant were found in a garden shed close to where the pair were finally found.
Constance Marten, 35, and Mark Gordon, 48, are charged with gross negligence manslaughter, concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice. They made their first appearance in court on Friday at Crawley Magistrate’s Court, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of London.
The couple spoke only to confirm their names, birth dates and that neither had a permanent address. Gordon had a gray sweater over his head throughout the hearing. Their next court appearance is scheduled for March 31 at Central London Criminal Court.
Marten and Gordon were arrested Monday in Brighton on the south coast of England. Authorities had been searching for them since Jan. 5, when their burning car was found beside a highway in northwestern England. Marten was believed to have given birth shortly before she disappeared.
The body of the infant was found under some diapers inside a plastic bag that was discovered in a garden shed north of Brighton, authorities said during Friday’s hearing. The grisly discovery followed a two-day search by hundreds of police officers aided by search and rescue teams, dogs, drones and thermal imaging cameras. Authorities haven’t yet determined the cause of death or the sex of the child.
Gross negligence manslaughter involves negligent behavior that a reasonable person should have understood presented an obvious risk of death to someone to whom they owed a duty of care.
Related listings
-
German parliament votes to approve EU-Canada trade pact
Verdicts & Settlements 12/01/2022German lawmakers on Thursday approved a free-trade deal between the European Union and Canada, moving the accord a step closer to taking full effect.The pact, formally known as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA, was signed in la...
-
Idaho Supreme Court won’t reconsider death row clemency case
United States Courts 10/25/2022The Idaho Supreme Court says it will not reconsider the clemency case of a terminally ill man who is facing execution for his role in the 1985 slayings of two gold prospectors near McCall.The high court made the decision Friday in Gerald Ross Pizzuto...
-
Breyer, Gorsuch join to promote education about Constitution
Verdicts & Settlements 08/12/2022education about the Constitution, joining Justice Neil Gorsuch at a time of intense political polarization and rising skepticism about the court’s independence.The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia said Thursday that Breyer and Gorsu...
Workers’ Compensation Subrogation of Administrative Fees and Costs
When a worker covered by workers’ compensation makes a claim against a third party, the workers’ compensation insurance retains the right to subrogate against any recovery from that third party for all benefits paid to or on behalf of a claimant injured at work. When subrogating for more than basic medical and indemnity benefits, the Texas workers’ compensation subrogation statute provides that “the net amount recovered by a claimant in a third‑party action shall be used to reimburse the carrier for benefits, including medical benefits that have been paid for the compensable injury.” TX Labor Code § 417.002.
In fact, all 50 states provide for similar subrogation. However, none of them precisely outlines which payments or costs paid by a compensation carrier constitute “compensation” and can be recovered. The result is industry-wide confusion and an ongoing debate and argument with claimants’ attorneys over what can and can’t be included in a carrier’s lien for recovery purposes.
In addition to medical expenses, death benefits, funeral costs and/or indemnity benefits for lost wages and loss of earning capacity resulting from a compensable injury, workers’ compensation insurance carriers also expend considerable dollars for case management costs, medical bill audit fees, rehabilitation benefits, nurse case worker fees, and other similar fees. They also incur other expenses in conjunction with the handling and adjusting of workers’ compensation claims. Workers’ compensation carriers typically assert, of course, that, they are entitled to reimbursement for such expenditures when it recovers its workers’ compensation lien. Injured workers and their attorneys disagree.