My pub has been called racist because of its name... the legal battle could close me down - but I'll NEVER change it
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The landlord of an historic pub called the Saracen’s Head told how he could be forced out of business after being targeted by a convicted terrorist over its ‘racist’ name. Simon Belsey, 49, fears the 300-year-old hostelry which sits on the banks of the River Wye in Hereford will have to shut after he received two legal letters from jihadist Khalid Baqa.
![[Khalid Baqa (pictured), who was jailed for four years for preparing Jihadi propaganda, has sparked outrage by trying to win nearly £2,000 from the Saracens Head Inn in Chesham, Buckinghamshire]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/20/09/93180705-14213301-Khalid_Baqa_pictured_who_was_jailed_for_four_years_for_preparing-a-2_1734686616518.jpg)
It’s claimed the radical has drawn up a hit list of more than 30 pubs with signs he says have instilled ‘worry and fear’ in him because they ‘incite violence’. Former truck driver Mr Belsey told how The Saracen’s Head is one of just three pubs remaining in the area after the cost-of-living crisis and Covid had a devastating impact on local traders.
![[Baqa plans to extend his fight to 30 other establishments with the same name (pictured, the Saracen's Head in Hereford)]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/20/09/93347621-14213301-image-m-9_1734686837313.jpg)
He took over running the Grade I-listed pub just seven months ago with his Portuguese partner Vanda Oliveira, 56, but has been forced to work as a bus driver in the city three days a week because the establishment doesn’t make enough money on its own.
![[Pub landlord Robbie Hayes (pictured) has vowed to fight the lawsuit, calling it a 'complete joke']](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/20/09/93180695-14213301-Pub_landlord_Robbie_Hayes_pictured_has_vowed_to_fight_the_lawsui-a-6_1734686657340.jpg)
Now he insists an expensive legal battle could be the final nail in the coffin for the watering hole known affectionately locally as The Saggs. He told MailOnline: ’It is a travesty - this man has chosen to live in the UK and now he is trying to change our rich history and culture.
![[Baqa said the sign - which depicts a brown-skinned man of Arab or Turkish descent - 'instilled worry and fear in me since it was clearly xenophobic, racist and inciting violence to certain people']](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/20/09/93180691-14213301-Baqa_said_the_sign_which_depicts_a_brown_skinned_man_of_Arab_or_-a-11_1734686955804.jpg)
‘The pub’s name goes back to 1705, clergymen visiting Hereford Cathedral used to stable their horses here. ‘It’s the Saracen’s Head and it will stay the Saracen’s Head.’. Simon Belsey, 49, fears the 300-year-old Sarcen's Head pub which sits on the banks of the River Wye in Hereford will have to shut after he received two legal letters from jihadist Khalid Baqa.
![[Staff and punters working at The Saracens Head, Kings Langley, were heavily critical of Baqa suing the landlord in Buckinghamshire]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/20/09/93197731-14213301-Staff_and_punters_working_at_The_Saracens_Head_Kings_Langley_wer-a-12_1734686958309.jpg)
