Masked men ‘set fire to pub’s Union Jacks’ and ‘shout Allahu Akbar and f**k the UK’.TA
The men are currently on trial.
Three men are accused of ripping down flags outside a pub (Image: Getty)
A court has heard two masked men burnt a pub’s Union Flags while shouting “Allahu Akbar”. Three men are charged with racially aggravated criminal damage and are standing trial at Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court.
Zaid Sami, 21, and Nour Sami, 20, both from Feltham, and Omar Sukkar, 21 and from Isleworth, are on trial but deny the charges. The men allegedly tore down flags outside The Fox Pub in Twickenham on October 23, 2023.
Prosecutor Mark Mullins told the court: “This case is about the ripping down and burning of two Union Flags, which the prosecution asserts is an attack on the British people and their way of life and is therefore racially aggravated.
“Just after 6pm in the evening, four young men ripped down two Union Jacks from The Fox public house and set fire to them. While they were burning the flags, they were heard shouting: ‘Allahu Akbar’; ‘Free Palestine’ and ‘Stop bombing children’.”
Flags were hung outside the pub (Image: The Fox)
CCTV footage reportedly showed Sukkar climbing a noticeboard to remove a flag, while Sami removed another. This damaged the poles and fixings.
Mr Mullins said that a speech given by then-Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, was a motivating factor in the attack. He said: “Sunak gave a speech on October 19 that Israel had a right to defend itself and on October 23 he made a similar speech to the House of Commons.
Pub landlord Paul Brace said that the flags were a source of pride, adding: “I had two Union Jack flags on poles. It is a very British street and we also have flags up during the rugby, the Six Nations via the Church Street Association.
“I felt it brightened the street up to have the national flags, even when there isn’t an event on. It is a symbol of our country, what we stand for, our values and is a recognisable symbol around the world, very distinctive.”
He followed the men after they pulled the flags down, trying to set them on fire. Brace said that he smelt plastic burning and the men shouting “Allahu Akbar”, meaning ‘God is the greatest’.
The trial continues.
The Prime Minister has suggested that Britain’s exit from the European Union has hampered its efforts.
Migrants continue to cross the English Channel in small boats (Image: Getty)
Andy Burnham has suggested that Brexit is hampering the UK’s ability to stop migrants stopping the English Channel in small boats. When asked by BBC South East why crossings are still happening, the Prime Minister said: “I do point to the loss of collaboration with neighbours that came with Brexit.
“That hasn’t helped.
“We had a more cooperative system, if you like, in the past, so we are not able to have the same levels of collaboration that we used to have, but I don’t put that forward as a reason why we won’t keep working until we get the crossings right down. That is our goal, that we don’t want to see any crossings at all.”
He added: “I’m not going to give you a date by which we can do that, or a promise that we will do it, as other governments have done in terms of a particular deadline.
Mr Burnham has said Brexit has not helped (Image: Getty)
“But what I will say to you is I will not stop nor will the Home Secretary until we bear down every element of this criminal, illegal activity and that we do so in a way that gets the numbers right now.”
Chris Philp, Conservative shadow home secretary, said: “Andy Burnham is gaslighting us all to hide his own failures, with over 1,000 illegal immigrants coming in this week alone.”
He added that under previous EU rules, the UK “only ever sent a handful of people back to Europe”, PA reported.
Mr Philp said: “The only way to stop the crossings is to deport all illegal immigrants upon arrival.
“To do this we need to leave the European Convention on Human Rights and that’s the one thing that Weak Borders Burnham will never do.”
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This week saw more than 700 people arrived in the UK on Wednesday and two vessels landing undetected on British shores within two days.
But the overall number of crossings this year (18,609) is down 42% on this time last year (32,188), and 26% below the figure at this stage in 2024 (25,165).
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signed a three-year £662million agreement with France in Dunkirk in April.
