" A teenager whose newborn died after she was placed in a garbage bag and likely crushed by a bulldozer at a landfill was sentenced today to two years probation. .
A provincial court judge also sentenced the teenager, now 17, to perform 50 hours of community service and get counselling. .
The teen mother, who can't be named because of her age, was originally charged with second-degree murder after the newborn's body was recovered from a landfill on Fogo Island, 400 kilometres northwest of St. John's. .
Last month she pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of infanticide. .
She choked back tears today as she told the court she gave birth in her family's bathroom in September 2003. She said the baby was blue and not breathing, so she put her outside in the garbage. .
The girl's mother later discovered blood and a placenta in the bathroom. Believing she had miscarried, the mother rushed her to the hospital. .
It wasn't until nurses at the hospital examined the teen and confirmed that a full-term baby had been born that she admitted what had happened. .
A frantic search ensued but the newborn was found in a garbage bag at the local landfill. An autopsy showed she had been alive but was likely killed by a bulldozer. .
In handing down the sentence, Judge Gloria Harding noted that the public horror over the killing of a newborn baby will make it difficult for the teenager to have a normal life. .
After the sentencing, Crown prosecutor Mark Linehan told CBC radio that the case had been difficult for everyone involved, and there was no way to have a happy outcome. .
The baby's paternal grandmother was in court for the sentencing. .
