A Muslim man slaughtered a wild swan and tried to eat it because he was hungry during the fasting festival of Ramadan, a court heard.
Shamshu Miah stabbed the bird and bit its neck at a boating lake in a popular tourist resort.
Police found the 52-year-old with blood on his clothes and feathers in his beard when they were called to the West Shore boating pool in the seaside town of Llandudno, North Wales.
They confronted Bangladeshi-born Miah, who told the police: "I am a Muslim, I am fasting, I had to eat.
"I was hungry, I had to eat the swan. I killed it, I stabbed it.
"I did nothing wrong, it was just a bird, I needed to eat."
It is forbidden for Muslims to eat during daylight hours over the Islamic month of Ramadan.
One of the officers told Miah it was illegal to kill a swan because it was the property of the Queen, to which Miah replied: "I hate the Queen, I hate this country."
Police searched Miah, a married father-of-one, and discovered a bloodstained kitchen knife.
But vets, who carried out a post-mortem on the animal, said it was unclear whether it had been attacked by the knife or Miah had bitten the swan's neck himself.
Miah was jailed for two months after admitting possession of a knife in public and intentionally killing a wild bird.
But District Judge Andrew Shaw allowed Miah to go free after hearing he had already spent 57 days in custody.
He said: "You killed the swan, it was a cruel and reprehensible act. "I do not know exactly how the animal died, there is speculation you might have bitten it. 'It is a taboo action, the only sentence that is appropriate is a sentence of imprisonment."
Llandudno Magistrates Court heard that shortly after midnight on September 25 this year - the second day of Ramadan - Miah was spotted acting suspiciously by the town's boating lake.
Jim Neary, prosecuting, said local resident William Cuthbert witnessed what could only be described as "bizarre" behaviour from Miah.
From his home opposite Mr Cuthbert saw Miah, a former restaurant owner who came to Britain from Bangladesh 40 years ago, rolling around on the grass with the swan's wing on the ground next to him.
Using a pair of binoculars to get a closer look, Mr Cuthbert watched as Miah picked up a carrier bag and saw the head of the swan topple out.
He telephoned police who discovered Miah wandering by the lake, with feathers in his beard and blood on his shirt, close to a pool of blood.
They found the dead swan inside the carrier bag, with an injury to its neck, just below its beak.
In interview, Miah admitted killing the bird because he was hungry as he was fasting during Ramadan, but denied he had done anything wrong. Elen Parry, defending, told the court that psychiatric reports indicated Miah was not mentally ill at the time of the attack.
Ramadan, which this year fell between Sept 24 and October 23, is the ninth month of Islamic calendar.
The festival celebrates the moment verses of the Koran were first revealed to the prophet Mohammed. During Ramadan Muslims are permitted to eat only after dark.
Ugh! All i can think about is that guy probably is mentally ill!
You get hungry when you fast but, man! you cant get THAT hungry in such a short space of time!
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Strange things durin' Ramadan..
ffended:
)
Jaa-Ro-Nee-Mo!!!
, naa but for real, that miah is jus a fisha
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