A paramedic left a baby born in a toilet to die and then disposed of it in a chemical waste bag.

When asked later why he did not try to save the 7lb 5oz baby, Andrew Read said it would "probably have been brain damaged."

Read, 49, of the Sussex Ambulance Service at Lewes, retrieved the baby, put it in a clinical waste bag and later handed it to hospital staff.

He did not complete any paperwork on the death on April 9 last year, the Health Professions Council (HPC) was told in London yesterday.

Read admitted what had happened and the disciplinary panel found he was guilty of misconduct and that his fitness to practise was impaired.

Panel chairman Sandy Yule gave Read a two-year caution and said: "He knew he should have taken more positive steps to investigate the condition of the baby and failed to do so.

"The panel is satisfied that the measures taken in the last year have served to remind Mr Read of the importance of applying his professional knowledge."

Nicola Hill, for the council, told the panel Read was on duty alone in a rapid response car when he was sent to the incident. An ambulance crew was also en route. He was met by the woman's father who told him his daughter was on the toilet and that she had had a baby.

Read told the hearing he was shown to the bathroom by the young woman's mother who asked him to be quiet because her daughter already had a five-year-old child who was asleep. He found a woman in her mid to late 20s, whose identity was withheld at the hearing, and saw the baby in the toilet.

Read told the hearing: "There were no arm movements of the baby. Its head and shoulders were below water."

He added: "Her family didn't know she was pregnant. They thought she had a hernia."

He confirmed that he thought the baby wouldhave been brain damaged. Miss Hill told the hearing Read said later that he did not want to move the mother because it could have caused haemorrhage and, on the basis he had seen no signs of life, he had assumed the baby was "not viable".The mother became his priority.

She continued: "He did not commence cardiac pulmonary resuscitation on the baby. In interview, he said he considered that had he successfully resuscitated the baby it would probably have been brain damaged.

"He did not make any attempt to cut and clamp or remove the mother from the toilet to assess the baby."

She said 13 minutes later a further ambulance crew of one paramedic and one technician arrived and the mother told Read she was bleeding again.

Miss Hill said: "Mr Read then completed a handover to the crew and when showing them the baby he noticed that the placenta was now lying on top of the baby. It is not clear what was said during the handover as there is a dispute between the three in attendance about this.

"The mother was then removed from the toilet with the assistance of the crew before they removed the baby from the toilet."

Miss Hill said: "Andrew Read did not carry out basic observations or checks for signs of life of the baby.

"There is dispute as to whether the other paramedic in attendance carried out these checks.

"Andrew Read said although nothing was said between any of us, a decision not to resuscitate was made by looking at the child'.

"The baby was placed in a yellow clinical waste bag. No one disagreed with this decision."

Both patient and baby were taken to hospital but, although a patient report form was completed for the mother, Miss Hill said Read did not do so for the baby, which was handed over to hospital staff in the chemical waste bag as "deceased" without any paperwork.

Interviewed later by Sussex Police Child Protection Team, Read said no resuscitation had been attempted on the baby, who was left in the toilet for some time "following the arrival of both crews".

Read admitted he had failed to act in the best interests of the baby, failed to maintain proper communications with other professionals and the family, failed to prioritise a patient who was not breathing and failed to keep accurate patient records.

Stuart Sutton, acting for Read, said: "He has been in the profession 25 years and given exemplary service, apart from this incident."

A spokeswoman for the South East Coast Ambulance Service, which took over from the Sussex Ambulance Service, said a full and thorough internal investigation was carried out and appropriate action would be taken following the conclusion of the hearing.

Officials at the hearing refused to divulge Read's address or the address where the incident happened.