- Angler spotted Hasan Fidan, 46, killing the bird and bundling it into bag
- Bob Morris confronted Fidan, and took a photo which he gave to police
- Fidan was fined £110 and ordered to pay a further £105 by magistrates
- Claims he did not realise killing a swan is against the law and has said sorry
- Police found remains in the freezer, after Fidan had already sampled bird
- Britain's mute swans owned by the Queen in law dating back to 12th century
A Turkish man caught stuffing a beheaded swan into a backpack has apologised and said he did not know what type of bird it was - but that it had 'tasted nice'.
Hasan Fidan was arrested after an angler saw him bundle the dead bird into his bag at Bennett's Lake in Hildenbough, Kent, and handed a photograph of him doing so to police.
The 46-year-old has now been fined £110 by magistrates and ordered to pay a further £85 in costs and a £20 victim surcharge after he admitted killing the swan on March 18 this year.
Caught on camera: Hasan Fidan has apologised after he was caught stuffing a beheaded swan into a backpack, and says he did not realise what type of bird it was
According to a law dating back to the 12th century when they were considered a delicacy, the Queen owns all of Britain's mute swans.
Unemployed Fidan said he had not realised that killing a swan was against the law.
'I did not know what type of bird it was. For me it was any type of bird. I didn’t know the Queen owned them,' he told the Evening Standard.
'I like the Queen very much. The moment the police told me what I did was wrong, I said I was sorry.'
Fidan, who has lived in Britain since 2006, was spotted by fisherman Bob Morris, 64, as he leapt over a fence at the lake before snatching the bird and hacking off its head.
When officers managed to track him down to his home in Tonbridge, Kent, they discovered the remains of the butchered swan in his freezer.
Police confirmed that the photo taken by Mr Morris was used to identify Fidan when he was spotted at another lake on March 28.
Scene: Fidan was spotted bundling the dead bird into his bag at Bennett's Lake in Hildenbough, Kent
SWAN UP-MANSHIP: HOW MUTE SWANS HAVE BEEN PROPERTY OF THE CROWN SINCE 12TH CENTURY
The Crown claimed ownership of all mute swans in the 12th century - when they were regarded as a delicacy and often served at banquets and feasts.
Today the Queen retains the right to ownership of all unmarked mute swans in open water, but she only exercises her ownership on certain stretches of the Thames and its surrounding tributaries.
This ownership is shared with the Worshipful Company of Vintners and the Worshipful Company of Dyers, who were granted rights of ownership by the Crown in the fifteenth century.
Every July an annual census of the swan population, known as Swan Upping, takes place along the Thames in Middlesex, Surrey, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire.
As part of the ceremony, The Queen's Swan Marker, the Royal Swan Uppers and the Swan Uppers of the Vintners' and Dyers' livery companies use six traditional Thames rowing skiffs during a five-day journey up-river.
On passing Windsor Castle, the rowers stand to attention in their boat with oars raised and salute 'Her Majesty The Queen, Seigneur of the Swans'.
Until 1998 it was considered treason to kill a swan.
He was sentenced by magistrates in Sevenoaks last week, having been charged under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.
Under the act, killing a wild bird can carry a sentence of six months in prison or a maximum fine of £20,000.
'I took it home, I took out the feathers, I cut it up and ate some of it. I wanted to see what it tasted like.
It tasted nice. I put the rest in the freezer,' Fidan said.
He added that he had killed the swan because he was struggling to buy food.
Mr Morris, who runs a rod-making firm in Dartford, Kent, described the moment he saw Fidan kill the bird.
'I was about 200 feet away when I saw this man in a red jacket jump over a fence and grab a swan and sit down on it,' he said.
'He then took a knife off and cut it's head off at the bottom of the neck - I was stunned - I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
'Swans have a fierce reputation, but they are relatively easy to catch - you just need to beware of their feet which have very sharp claws on them.
'This guy knew what he was doing.'
Mr Morris, whose book Carping Aside was published last year, said he had run over to Fidan and shouted at him.
'He had dropped the knife he used to kill the swan and he just looked at me and started swearing,' he said.
'I picked up his knife because I was worried he might go for me, but then he started shouting at me "Are you going to stab me?" and I realised I could get in a bit of bother, so I put the knife down.
'It was a very unpleasant incident and left me quite shaken, but I managed to get the photo which helped get him caught.'
Mr Morris said he was 'disgusted' by the £110 fine doled out to Fidan.
'There is no deterrent effect in this sentence and it sends out all the wrong messages - it basically says killing a swan is no big deal,' he said.
'All swans are the property of The Queen, so it should be seen as a big deal and dealt with accordingly otherwise we are just going to see more and more swans going missing and ending up on the dinner table.'
He added: 'It's horrific really - swans and carp need to be protected, as they are being caught and eaten more and more these days.'
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