Convicted terrorist ‘deeply offended’ by pub sign sues boozer because it ‘scares him’

A convicted terrorist is suing a pub as he was “deeply offended” by a sign that “scared him”.

Khalid Baqa, 60, who has spent four years in prison for creating Jihadi propaganda, said that the “depiction of a bearded Arab/Turk” on the boozer’s sign “incites violence”.

He is now suing The ­Saracen’s Head Inn in Amersham, Buckinghamshire for almost £2,000, stating that the figure on the sign – which depicts a brown-skinned man of Arab or Turkish descent – is racist.

If successful, the 60-year-old plans to take on 30 other pubs with the same name.

However, the landlord of the inn is fighting back against the lawsuit which he branded a “complete joke”.

Speaking to The Sun, Robbie Hayes said: “This has been called The Saracen’s Head for 500 years.

“He’s just chancing his hand. Of course it worries me – you never know with people like this.”

He said that the sign and the name were “simply historic” rather than racist, and insisted that his pubgoers were all tolerant individuals.

When Baqa filed the claim to a country court, he said that the sign “instilled worry and fear in me since it was clearly xenophobic, racist and inciting violence to certain people”.

He said that he visited the pub in person to voice his concerns, though staff at the inn say they have no record.

Saracen is a term used since at least the 5th century to refer to Arabs, and later linked to Muslims. The pub name Saracen’s Head is said to be linked to the Crusades.

It is one of the most popular names for a pub in the UK, alongside The Red Lion and The Royal Oak.

More to follow…