'Not Your Usual Prisoner': Swan Taken In by Police in Britain's Ocean City

One local who phoned the police to report the wild bird loose in the middle of Plymouth said they had just walked past someone "stroking a swan" on a busy street, home to many of the port city's most popular pubs and bars.

Cops in a south-west England port city have brought in a rather unusual 'prisoner' — a swan who have been involved in a night-time road accident.

Officers from Devon and Cornwall Police got an unusual call out on the evening of Wednesday February 1 of "a swan being removed from the Harbour by a drunk male."

The culprit had somehow managed to coax or drag the big bird around a mile from the Plymouth marina, through the busy city centre to Mutley Plain, a major shopping street and nightlife hub, where it was hit by a car.

Contact Officer Mel Rooks took the call from a witness who had "just passed someone stroking a swan" — which she called her "comment of the day."

Officers from the city's emergency response unit tweeted a mugshot of the swan in custody, shut in the back of a police car and wrapped in a blanket.

A swan sits in a police car in Plymouth, Devon, UK on the evening of Wednesday, February 1 2023

© Plymouth Police - D Section Response/Twitter

They said the unfortunate fowl had been "taken to the vets where they are nursing it back to health."

Swans' grace and beauty belie their often-fierce nature. The huge waterfowl can rear up to nearly human head height and hiss aggressively when they perceive a threat.