Masked men shouted “Allahu Akbar” and “f**k the UK” as they ripped down and burned a pub’s Union Flags, a court has heard.
Zaid Sami, 21, and Nour Sami, 20, both from Feltham, and 21-year-old Omar Sukkar from Isleworth, are accused of racially-aggravated criminal damage to the flags outside The Fox pub in Twickenham.
All three men deny the charge and are standing trial at Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court.
Prosecutors have described the alleged attack at the pub as an “attack on the British people”, arguing that made it a racially-aggravated offense, the Mail reported.
The men allegedly tore down the flags outside the pub on October 23, 2023, two weeks after the October 7 attacks, when Hamas killed over 1,000 civilians in Israel.
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’.”
Mr Mullins said CCTV evidence showed Mr Sukkar clambering up a noticeboard to remove a flag, while Zaid Sami removed another flag, damaging poles and fixings in the process.
Witnesses then noticed a “strong acrid smell” as the flags were burned, the prosecutor added.
Mr Mullins also suggested then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s speech was a motivating factor for the attack.
“Then UK Prime Minister Rishi 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,” he told the court.
Pub landlord Paul Brace told the court the flags were a source of pride as part of the street.
He said: “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 was in a flat above his pub when his deputy manager phoned him in a “state of distress and shock”, he said.
Mr Brace told the court he followed the men after they ripped the flags off the poles and saw them attempting to light the flags on fire, but they were “struggling to get it going”.
He said: “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 was in a flat above his pub when his deputy manager phoned him in a “state of distress and shock”, he said.
Mr Brace told the court he followed the men after they ripped the flags off the poles and saw them attempting to light the flags on fire, but they were “struggling to get it going”.