Loose Women panel draws outrage after comments on Constance Marten's sentencing
Discussion of whether female offenders are judged more harshly sparked viewer backlash after the couple were jailed over the death of their newborn.
A discussion on ITV's Loose Women about whether women face harsher public judgment after criminal convictions prompted widespread viewer anger after panellists suggested Constance Marten may have been judged more severely because she is a woman.
Marten and her partner, Mark Gordon, were each sentenced on Monday to 14 years in prison after being found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter over the death of their newborn daughter, Victoria. The infant's decomposed body was discovered in a shopping bag in Brighton in 2023.
The panel, fronted by host Christine Lampard, included Janet Street-Porter, Mariella Frostrup and Brenda Edwards. Street-Porter said journalists had tried to "get inside the head of Constance Marten" and that profiles of Marten portrayed her as living "in an almost parallel world." She suggested Marten might be "better placed in a psychiatric hospital rather than a conventional prison" and said it appeared she had "a very unusual childhood."
Edwards linked Marten's behaviour to upbringing, saying, "I think she is a product of her environment... It's a nurture thing." Frostrup argued that female offenders attract different scrutiny and that crimes against children by women are often described as "abhorrent and unnatural," producing intensified public attention compared with male perpetrators.
The broadcast prompted a strong reaction from viewers on social media, many of whom criticised the panellists for appearing to mitigate the seriousness of the crime. "Murder is murder whether it's carried out by a man or a woman in horrible cases like this one, and the sentence is way too light," one viewer wrote. Other comments included, "There is no excuse for killing your own child!" and, "Stop making excuses for these monsters!" Some accused the programme of excusing child killers because they are women.
Loose Women did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The programme airs weekdays on ITV1 and is available to stream on ITVX.
The case has drawn sustained media attention since the discovery of the infant in 2023. Prosecutors argued at trial that the death resulted from the couple's neglect and failures to provide adequate care; the jury convicted both of gross negligence manslaughter. Defence teams had offered differing accounts of events and the defendants' state of mind during the trial.
The on-air debate highlights a broader discussion in media and criminal justice circles about whether coverage and public reaction differ when the accused are women. Commentators cited by the Loose Women panellists said that transgressions by women, especially crimes involving children, often provoke heightened moral outrage and intense personal scrutiny, while comparable cases involving men may receive less attention to personal background.
Legal experts note that sentencing decisions are based on the circumstances of each case, including culpability, harm caused, and any mitigating or aggravating factors, rather than on gender. The sentencing judge in the Marten and Gordon case set identical terms for both defendants.
The programme's exchange follows other high-profile instances in which media treatment of defendants' backgrounds and mental health has prompted debate about the balance between explaining behaviour and appearing to excuse criminal acts. Viewers' reactions on social media reflected those tensions, with calls for harsher punishment and criticisms of perceived sympathy toward the convicted defendants.