An aristocrat mother who has gone missing with her rapist partner and their newborn baby was ‘brainwashed’ by a charismatic Nigerian preacher, a friend has said.

Constance Marten is understood to have spent around six months living in Nigeria and working for the controversial pastor T B Joshua, becoming one of his ‘disciples’ at about the time she went to university.

A friend of the 35-year-old, who is known to friends as Toots, said: ‘The experience traumatised her.

‘She was not the same person when she came back. She always used to be wild, but also happy, kind and buoyant.

‘She was darker when she came back and she found things more difficult. She never told us what really happened.’

Ms Marten’s partner Mark Gordon, 49, served 20 years in the US for rape. The couple and their baby were last spotted on CCTV at East Ham station, London, two days after their car caught fire on the M61 near Bolton on January 5.

The mum and child have had no medical attention since the birth and Ms Marten’s dad Napier, who has royal links, is worried about them. (New Telegraph)