A teenage couple who hid a secret pregnancy from their family have been met with mercy after they hid the body of their infant, who died minutes after he was born, in a Milton Keynes nature reserve.

Yesterday (Tuesday), Aylesbury Crown Court heard the tragic case of Sebastian Bowerman and Jessica Cooper, and how in March 2018, when they were aged 17 and 16 respectively, Jessica gave birth to a baby boy at home in Milton Keynes.

The court heard how the baby, which they named Garrick, lived for only a few minutes, and was not breathing or crying when Sebastian helped Jessica deliver him.

Alone and unsure what to do, the pair wrapped him in towels and put him in a bin bag under Jessica's bed. A week later Sebastian hid the baby in Blue Lagoon Nature Reserve while they thought about a permanent location to bury their son.

Bucks Free Press: Blue Lagoon Nature Reserve. [Google]Blue Lagoon Nature Reserve. [Google]

In June 2018, Sebastian confessed what had happened to his mother, and she called the police. The couple were both arrested and yesterday, now aged 21 and 19, the pair pleaded guilty to preventing lawful and decent burial of a dead body.

Representing Jessica, defence barrister Lucy Tapper said: “There is no punishment the court could impose which would outweigh what she has had imposed on herself.

“It won’t stop today, it will continue.”

Laban Leake, representing Sebastian, added: “He loved her, there’s no doubt about that.

“They still care about each other, still support each other.”

Prosecuting, Abigail Husbands told the court how when the baby was born, he had moved his arms and legs, but was not breathing or crying.

He died shortly afterwards. A post-mortem found that the baby was between 38 and 46 weeks old.

The court also heard how Jessica, who still managed to do well in her GCSEs a month after the incident, spends a lot of her time caring for her mother, who is seriously unwell.

Ms Husbands also revealed that the couple did not tell anyone about what had happened until three months later, when Sebastian confessed to his mother.

Giving his remarks, judge Francis Sheridan called the ordeal a “tragedy”.

He said: “I believe both of you will carry the loss of this young lad as a life sentence because it was conceived out of love; you couldn’t bear to part with him.

“You (Sebastian) went around there as a supportive boyfriend and as this baby was born it moved for seconds, minutes, and then life was extinct.

“If one thing is calling out for mercy, this is it.”

Both Jessica and Sebastian were given two-year community orders and both were given 45-day rehabilitation activity requirements to help them recover from the mental trauma of the incident.

Jessica was also prescribed grief counselling by the judge.