Derbyshire police hunt for '˜murdered' plastic swan

Police hunted for a murdered swan after reports came in of an animal in distress only to find it was a plastic ornamentPolice hunted for a murdered swan after reports came in of an animal in distress only to find it was a plastic ornament
Police hunted for a murdered swan after reports came in of an animal in distress only to find it was a plastic ornament
After reports a swan had been decapitated Derbyshire police went to investigate only to find the swan was a plastic ornament.

Officers walked along the River Derwent in Hathersage looking for the injured bird but found it was a plastic and the head had just rolled off.

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Derbyshire police’s wildlife officer, PC Emerson Buckingham, said: “It was about 45 minutes for the officer to get to the scene and back. Upon reaching the swans, he feared the worst. But he did manage to help the swans out of the river and placed them back on the river bank for them to be put together again.”

PC Buckingham added that the member of the public was right to report the swans to the police if they feared they’d been killed.

He said: “It is an offence to kill, take, or injure a swan as it is with any other bird. At the end of the day, we don’t mind walking a stretch of the river to find they were plastic. At least it wasn’t two dead swans.

“This was a serious call from a concerned member of the public who saw these from some distance.”

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