Girl hid son's body under bed

A 15-YEAR-OLD teenager hid the body of her newborn son in a plastic bag under her bed because she was too frightened to tell her family she had given birth, an inquest heard today.

The girl from Abbeymead, Gloucester - who cannot be named for legal reasons - gave birth in the bathroom of her home while her family was out shopping and cut the umbilical cord with a pair of scissors.

The girl told police the baby was dead when it was born. But Gloucester Coroner's Court was told it had probably lived for a short while after the birth.

The teenager's mother told the inquest she only realised her daughter had given birth when she found the baby in a drawer under her daughter's bed. She had put her daughter's weight gain down to her splitting up with her boyfriend.

She said: "She wishes she was dead and not the baby. She is very distraught. I know she will never get over this."

The coroner recorded an open verdict.