A convicted terrorist is suing a pub called The Saracen’s Head Inn for its “deeply offensive” sign.
Khalid Baqa, who was previously jailed for distributing jihadist propaganda, is claiming £1,850 for its depiction of a “brown-skinned bearded Arab”.
But the landlord of the pub in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, has labelled the lawsuit a “complete joke”.
Saracen is a term used to describe an Arab or Muslim, particularly at the time of the Crusades.
Robbie Hayes, 52, the pub’s landlord, said: “This pub 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.
“No one at this pub is racist, we don’t believe the sign is racist and the name is simply historic. We won’t be pushed around and change hundreds of years of history just because some loudmouth wants to cause trouble.”
Baqa, 60, has announced plans to extend his fight to 30 other establishments with the same name if he is successful. He filed the proposal at county court, previously known as the small claims court.
In his submission, Baqa claimed: “While walking through the area I was shocked and deeply offended by what I saw. I saw pub signage depicting a brown-skinned bearded Arab/Turk male with a turban and captioned The Saracen’s Head.
“This instilled worry and fear in me since it was clearly xenophobic, racist and inciting violence to certain people. I immediately complained to the pub and requested the signage be removed.”
Baqa was jailed at the Old Bailey in 2018 after being found with jihadist leaflets on the Tube. He admitted to five counts of dissemination of terrorist publications.
He claims to have contacted the pub on multiple occasions and visited in person but staff have said there is no record of this.
He told The Sun: “I’ve always been offended by pub names like these but I’ve only recently discovered how I can challenge them online,” adding: “I’ve stopped all the terrorism stuff now.”
The Saracen’s Head Inn was built using timber from old ships in 1530.
Baqa and the pub were approached by The Telegraph for comment.
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