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| Muslim woman 'abused' over dress | Muslim woman 'abused' over dress |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A Muslim woman was asked by a Christian hotelier if she was a terrorist and a murderer because she was wearing Islamic dress, a court has been told. | A Muslim woman was asked by a Christian hotelier if she was a terrorist and a murderer because she was wearing Islamic dress, a court has been told. |
| Ericka Tazi told Liverpool magistrates she faced a tirade of abuse from Benjamin Vogelenzang and his wife Sharon, at their hotel on Merseyside. | |
| She said it was because she was wearing a hijab head covering and gown. | She said it was because she was wearing a hijab head covering and gown. |
| Mr and Mrs Vogelenzang deny using threatening, abusive or insulting words which were religiously aggravated. | Mr and Mrs Vogelenzang deny using threatening, abusive or insulting words which were religiously aggravated. |
| Mrs Tazi, who converted to Islam 18 months ago, spent a month at The Bounty House Hotel on Church Avenue, Aintree, Liverpool, while attending a course at Aintree Hospital. | |
| Clothes mocked | |
| Prosecutor Anya Horwood told the court Mr Vogelenzang, 53, called the prophet Mohammed a "warlord" and likened him to Saddam Hussein and Hitler. | |
| And his 54-year-old wife told Mrs Tazi her Islamic dress represented "oppression" and was a form of "bondage", the court heard. | |
| Mrs Tazi had worn European dress during her four-week stay, but the row flared after she came down on her last day in traditional Islamic dress. | |
| She said Mr Vogelenzang asked her "Why are you wearing those clothes?" and began laughing at her, the prosecutor told the court. | |
| She asked the couple to stop insulting her Anya Horwood, prosecuting | |
| Ms Horwood said the hotelier then began to discuss his faith but became angry - at which point his wife joined in. | |
| "[Mrs Vogelenzang] was saying that the clothes she was wearing represented oppression and bondage," she said. | |
| Mrs Tazi walked away but was followed by Mr Vogelenzang, who was acting like "a whirling dervish", repeatedly asking her if she was a "terrorist". | |
| "She asked the couple to stop insulting her. She tried to explain again how important her faith was," Ms Horwood added. | |
| "At that point Sharon Vogelenzang pointed her finger in her face, shouting, saying she had provoked this because of wearing the gown." | |
| The trial continues. |