A devout Christian couple are appearing before magistrates, charged with harassing a Muslim who wore a "Hajib" at their B+B hotel.
Churchgoers Ben Vogelenzang, 53, and his wife Sharon, 54, were charged with a religiously aggravated hate crime after a heated row with Ericka Tazi, a guest at their hotel.
Liverpool Magistrates Court heard allegations that the couple's behaviour was threatening, intimidating, and abusive towards pensioner Mrs Tazi.
The couple, who run the Bounty House Hotel, Liverpool, each deny a charge of causing religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress, under the Public Order Act 1986.
Mrs Tazi, 60, had been a guest at the eight-bedroomed B+B hotel in County Road, Aintree, for four weeks while undergoing pain management therapy at a nearby hospital.
Counsel for the Crown Prosecution Service, Anya Horwood, won a ruling from Deputy District Judge Richard Clancy that the hotel was a "public place" for the purpose of the offence.
Petite Mrs Tazi told how she entered the dining room of the hotel on 20th March 2009, wearing a Hajib - a full length robe and headscarf worn by many Muslim women.
She claims the Vogelenzangs directed an hour-long tirade of abuse at her as a result of her religious beliefs.
Mrs Tazi, a married woman from Warrington, Cheshire, converted to Islam in June 2008 but until the last day of her stay at the hotel, had not worn the Hajib.
Giving evidence in the witness box of the oak-lined Number 4 Court at Liverpool Central Magistrates Court in Dale Street, Mrs Tazi wore a brown-coloured Hajib.
In a quiet, but assured voice, she told the court: "I came down to breakfast at around half past seven.
"As soon as Mr Vogelenzang saw me he began waving his arms frantically and shouted 'Why are you wearing those clothes? Don't you know they represent oppression and bondage'.
"I was upset and walked to a table to get my breakfast as usual but he followed me into the next room and shouted 'Are you a terrorist? Are you a murderer like Mohammed?'
"Then his wife arrived and she pointed and said that I had provoked this, while I begged them to stop."
She also claims the hotelier described Mohammed as a "warlord" and accused the founder of the Islam of sharing ideals with the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.
She added: "I was upset and warned them that I would complain to the hospital."
Defence counsel, Mr Hugh Tomlinson QC, challenged Ms Tazi and dismissed her allegations against the Dutch-born hotelier and his wife as "grossly exaggerated".
Mr Tomlinson said: "Mr Vogelenzang is a large man, with a loud voice which can on occasions be quite difficult to understand due to his accent.
"I suggest that you may well have misunderstood his comments, which were intended as part of an ongoing debate about religion, which was started by yourself.
"On occasions, other guests had complained about the robust conversation between yourself and another guest, where you debated religion over the dinner table."
Mrs Tazi later told police that despite begging the defendants to stop, they continued their tirade of abuse, while she sobbed in front of a number of fellow guests.
Making a personal statement to the packed courtroom she described her conversion to Islam and how she regarded wearing the Hajib as the end of her "long spiritual journey".
Ms Tazi said: "I have tried most of the religions. I've been a Christian, and was a member of the Catholic Legion of Mary.
"But Mr Vogelenzang asked me if I was a terrorist, and if I was a murderer like Mohammed.
"I am a 60-year-old disabled woman, I couldn't believe what was being said to me."
Following the incident, Mrs Tazi complained to staff at the Aintree University Hospital's Walton Centre, and who had arranged the hotel accommodation.
Staff at the hospital unit contacted police who carried out an investigation and charged Mr and Mrs Vogelenzang in July.
Members of the Christian Insitute staged a vigil outside the court before the hearing singing hymns including "We shall Overcome".
The couple, who are members of the Elim Pentacostal Church, could face a fine of up to £5000.
The trial continues and is expected to finish on Wednesday.
John, Anfield around 8 months, 3 weeks ago