A man has been remanded into custody after a court heard he had threatened to visit a London synagogue wearing a suicide vest.
Dilan Lakhani, 29, made the threat after asking security outside South Hampstead Synagogue what the building was, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard.
Prosecutor Nia King told the court: “On the 21st April, the defendant walked past the South Hampstead Synagogue on Eton Road, approached security standing by the gate and said words to the effect of ‘what is this place?’.
“After a brief conversation, the defendant said ‘I am going to come back with my friend with a suicide vest’, before walking away.”
During the hearing on Wednesday, Lakhani, from Harrow, pleaded not guilty to charges of using threatening words to cause alarm and distress and religiously aggravated intentional harassment.
He appeared by videolink from HMP Wormwood Scrubs, where he has been held since May 2.
Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram remanded Lakhani into custody before his appearance at Wood Green Crown Court on June 3.