UK couple to remain jailed after baby’s remains found in bag
Litigation Reports
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
-
Alabama man charged in quadruple killing denied bond
Litigation Reports 02/22/2023A judge has denied bond for a man accused of killing his grandparents, his brother and a family friend in south Alabama.Jared Smith-Bracy, 21, is charged with four counts of capital murder in the deaths Wednesday night in Daphne. He met briefly with ...
-
Spain orders extradition of British alleged hacker to U.S.
Litigation Reports 02/17/2023Spain’s National Court has agreed to the extradition to the U.S. of a British citizen who allegedly took part in computer attacks, including the July 2020 hacking of Twitter accounts of public figures such as Joseph Biden, Barack Obama and Bill...
-
Interior: $580M headed to 15 tribes to fulfill water rights
Litigation Reports 02/03/2023Fifteen Native American tribes will get a total of $580 million in federal money this year for water rights settlements, the Biden administration announced Thursday.The money will help carry out the agreements that define the tribes’ rights to ...
USCIS Adjusting Premium Processing Fee
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today it is adjusting the premium processing fee for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker and Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers beginning on Oct. 1, 2018 to more effectively adjudicate petitions and maintain effective service to petitioners.
The premium processing fee will increase to $1,410, a 14.92 percent increase (after rounding) from the current fee of $1,225. This increase, which is done in accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act, represents the percentage change in inflation since the fee was last increased in 2010 based on the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers.
“Because premium processing fees have not been adjusted since 2010, our ability to improve the adjudications and service processes for all petitioners has been hindered as we’ve experienced significantly higher demand for immigration benefits. Ultimately, adjusting the premium processing fee will allow us to continue making necessary investments in staff and technology to administer various immigration benefit requests more effectively and efficiently,” said Chief Financial Officer Joseph Moore. “USCIS will continue adjudicating all petitions on a case-by-case basis to determine if they meet all standards required under applicable law, policies, and regulations.”
Premium processing is an optional service that is currently authorized for certain petitioners filing Forms I-129 or I-140. The system allows petitioners to request 15-day processing of certain employment-based immigration benefit requests if they pay an extra fee. The premium processing fee is paid in addition to the base filing fee and any other applicable fees, which cannot be waived.