A WATER sport fan has been fined £600 with £350 costs after a court was told how he killed a swan in a marina while riding a jet ski.

Stephen Halsall, aged 22, of Whittle Street, Walkden, hit the swan when it was in the middle of a channel between pontoons at Conwy in North Wales.

Barrister Susan Edwards, prosecuting, said: "The jet ski made no attempt to swerve out of the way."

Halsall, a panel beater, who hoped to join the fire service, was found guilty of a Public Order Act offence of causing harassment, alarm or distress.

He was convicted at Denbigh Magistrates Court yesterday after a two-day trial.

Magistrates found the evidence of two boat owners "convincing", and said that there had been "numerous inconsistencies" in defence testimony. The boat owners had claimed that Halsall had accelerated into the swan, which was in the middle of the channel.

Halsall and his friends insisted that the swan had appeared suddenly as he was lying on his jetski at idling speed, and that he had no chance to avoid it.

Halsall had told the court: "I was going along and it just came out of nowhere. I glanced in front of the handlebars and this white thing was coming towards me."

He had stopped after the impact, looked around and saw the swan swimming about, apparently unharmed.

Halsall denied that the swan's death, in June last year, was due to his "ridiculous behaviour". He said he had been at Conwy with some friends and his brother.

Defence witness Christopher Roberts said the swan had "flapped" into the jetski, which was travelling at only idling speed. Halsall had looked around and the swan was "just swimming" so he continued out to sea.

Defence barrister William Ralston said: "It was clear that this wasn't a callous, hard-hearted and intentional act of cruelty to the swan. This was a pure accident, an unforeseen, unavoidable collision."

Afterwards Halsall refused to comment.