Suspended jail term for chef who killed swan

Mohammed Miah had previously admitted killing the mute swan in Bedford in the early hours of May 10.

Magistrates in the town sentenced him to a 12-week jail sentence, suspended for 12 months, the RSPB said. An charge of stealing the swan was dropped at the previous hearing.

The RSPB said police were called after Miah, of Cathie Road, Bedford, was seen strangling the bird and stuffing it into a bin liner on the bank of the River Great Ouse in the town.

Night porters at a nearby hotel saw the attack and called police.

When officers arrived, they saw a drunken Miah running towards them with blood on his face, bird droppings on his shoes and a white feather stuck to his hand, the spokesman said.

The officers found a bin liner containing a dead mute swan dumped nearby. When quizzed about the blood Miah told officers he had probably been fighting in a local nightclub.

Magistrates spared him from immediate jail jail with his prompt admission and guilty plea. He was also given a curfew on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights for six months and was ordered to pay 85 costs.

RSPB investigations officer Mark Thomas said yesterday: "Mute swans are a national treasure and to see one killed in such a brutal and senseless way rightly revolts people."