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A man caught stuffing a beheaded swan into his rucksack said today that he did not know what sort of bird it was.

Hasan Fidan, 46, was fined after an angler photographed him killing the creature at a beauty spot.

Officers found the swan chopped into pieces and jammed into Fidan’s freezer when they traced him to his home in Tonbridge, Kent.

In a law dating to the 12th century — when they were considered a delicacy — all mute swans are considered to belong to the monarch.

Today Fidan, originally from Turkey, said he did not realise he had broken the law by hunting one: “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.

“I like the Queen very much. The moment the police told me what I did was wrong, I said I was sorry.”

He was arrested after angler Bob Morris, 64, saw him jump over a fence at Bennett’s Lake in Hildenborough, Kent, grab a swan and behead it with a knife.

Mr Morris photographed Fidan stuffing the bird into his rucksack before running off.

At Sevenoaks magistrates’ court last week, Fidan was fined £110, plus £85 costs and a £20 victim surcharge, after he admitted killing the swan on March 18.

He added: “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. When the police came to me and asked me if I had killed a bird, I said yes. I did not realise it was wrong. The police took away what was left in my freezer.

“I am sorry to everyone. I have been to court. I will pay my fine.” Fidan, who is unemployed, said he had been living in Britain since 2006.

He said one of the reasons he had hunted the bird was because he had been struggling to afford food.

Mr Morris, 64, who runs a rod-making firm in Dartford, said of the incident: “It was very unpleasant and left me quite shaken, but I managed to get the photo which helped get him caught.

“I was about 200ft away when I saw this man in a red jacket jump over a fence and grab a swan and sit down on it.

“He then took a knife and cut its head off at the bottom of the neck. I was stunned, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”