Terrorist sets sights on two more pubs after suing landlord for ‘racist’ sign

A convicted terrorist who is seeking compensation from a historic Buckinghamshire pub for its “racist” name is now targeting two other establishments that he also claims to have taken offence to.

Khalid Baqa was jailed for creating and disseminating Jihadi propoganda in 2018 and released after four years and eight months in 2022.

He demanded £1,850 from the landlord of the Saracen’s Head Inn in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, last week after taking offence to its name and the “bearded Arab/Turk” on its sign, which he described as “deeply racist”.

And Mr Baqa, who accused Amersham landlord Robbie Hayes of “inciting violence” with the 500-year-old boozer‘s outdoor sign, is now preparing to take on two other pubs with the same name.

The Saracen’s Heads in King Langley, Hertfordshire, and in Hereford near the River Wye are next on the convicted terrorist’s list for legal action – with their owners already worried that his demands will harm business.

Simon Belsey, 49, who runs the Hereford pub, told The Sun: “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.”

Both Mr Belsey and Peter Dillingham, 59, who runs the Saracen’s Head in King’s Langley, have received letters and emails from Mr Baqa threatening to “escalate matters” if the signs outside their pubs are not removed.

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.

“It’s obvious he’s never stepped foot outside the pub. It’s frankly ridiculous – a convicted terrorist scared of a pub sign.”

Meanwhile, Mr Hayes slammed the terrorist’s filing of a “claim of money” form as a “complete joke” after it was first reported last week.

Mr Baqa alleged that he had been “shocked and deeply offended” after spotting the pub sign on Amersham High Street, claiming that the “xenophobic and racist” depiction “instilled worry and fear in me”.

However, Mr Hayes responded: “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.”

‘Saracen’ is a term that was originally used to describe Arabs and Turks subscribed to the Islamic religion during the Middle Ages, and later as a blanket term applied to non-Christian fighters in the religious wars.