MODEL LETTER TO DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

Email to cpsprivateoffice@cps.gov.uk and send us a copy at sns@legalactionforwomen.net

Dear STEPHEN PARKINSON,

As you know, the jury in the case of Constance Marten has been discharged because they could not reach an agreement.

I write to urge you NOT to prosecute Ms Marten again.  She has been in prison for 18 months; the trial lasted almost 6 months, the jury were out for over 72 hours and were discharged on 19 June when they were unable to reach verdicts.

Ms Marten was repeatedly told in court that she could not re-visit the family court cases involving her four older children, yet this context was fundamental to her decision to go on the run to protect Victoria from being forcibly taken from her mother at birth.  Research confirms that once social services have removed one child, they expect to remove every subsequent child, and predictably, Ms Marten’s third and fourth children were taken at birth.  In this context, who wouldn’t go on the run to protect their new-born baby, with whom they have already bonded after nine months in the womb? 

As a grieving mother, Ms Marten needed support NOT prosecution.  The charges against her should never have been brought and should not be brought again.  To do so would be sexist, racist and against natural justice.

The trial of Constance Marten highlighted the desperation she and many mothers feel and our determination to protect our children.  There is no public interest served by prosecuting her again, at great cost to the public purse.  Ms Marten is not a danger to the public, she is a mother who deserves to be allowed to begin to recover from everything she has suffered: separation from her four children, the death of her baby and the long time she has spent in prison. 

I urge you NOT to prosecute Ms Marten again.

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