LONDON (RNS) In the latest case pitting private religious beliefs against public interests in Britain, two Christian hotel operators have won a legal fight against a Muslim convert who accused them of insulting her faith.

Ericka Tazi, an ex-Roman Catholic who embraced Islam 18 months ago, told a magistrates’ court in Liverpool, England, that during her stay at the Bounty House Hotel, innkeepers Benjamin and Sharon Vogelenzang subjected her to an hour-long anti-Islam tirade when she showed up for breakfast wearing a hijab, a Muslim head covering.

Tazi testified that the couple described Islam’s Prophet Muhammad as a “warlord,” likening him to Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein, and told her that Muslim women were oppressed.

But Judge Richard Clancy threw out Tazi’s complaint on Wednesday (Dec. 9) and dismissed a charge of a religiously aggravated “hate crime” against the owners, saying, “I’m not satisfied on the facts that this case has been made out.”

The ruling came only days after former church elder Gary MacFarlane lost a court case revolving around his own Christian beliefs, which he said prevented him from offering relationship counseling to gay couples.

MacFarlane had told an employment tribunal in Bristol, England, that he was a victim of religious discrimination, but the panel ruled that the counseling company was not guilty of unfair dismissal when it fired him.

The Vogelenzangs told the Liverpool court that bookings at their hotel had slumped by 80 percent in the nine months since Tazi went to the police with her complaints.

Britain has seen a growing number of such cases since the government enacted the Crime and Disorder Act 11 years ago, which created a special class of crimes based on religious or racial harassment.