Fury as convicted terrorist threatens to sue two more Saracen’s Head landlords over their ‘racist’ pub signs
TWO more Saracen’s Head pubs face legal action from a convicted terrorist over “racist” signs.
And one boss says a court battle could cost him his business.
Simon Belsey, 49, who runs a 300-year-old pub beside the River Wye, Hereford, has received two letters from Khalid Baqa, 60, threatening legal action.
He said: “I don’t have the money to challenge this. It could close us down.
“This man has chosen to live in the UK and is trying to change our history. The pub’s name goes back to 1705.”
Peter Dillingham, 59, who owns a 17th-century pub with the name in Kings Langley, Herts, also received Baqa’s emails giving him two weeks to remove signs before he “escalates matters”.
Mr Dillingham said: “He said he had seen our sign and was deeply offended as it showed a man with a tanned complexion in a turban. You only need to take one look to see that’s not the case.
“It’s obvious he’s never stepped foot outside the pub.
“It’s frankly ridiculous — a convicted terrorist scared of a pub sign.”
The Sun has revealed that Baqa, from Essex, who was jailed for four years in 2018 for preparing terrorist propaganda, is already suing a pub in Amersham, Bucks.
He claimed its sign of a bearded man with a turban “incites violence”.
Pub names like the Saracen’s Head often date back to the 12th-century crusades and refer to Arabs or Muslims.