The Kneecap rapper Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh will not face a terrorism charge over allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag during a gig after the high court in London upheld a decision to throw out the case.
Ó hAnnaidh, 28, who performs under the name Mo Chara, had been charged with the offence for allegedly displaying the flag of the proscribed group during a performance at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London, in November 2024.
Last September the chief magistrate, Paul Goldspring, rejected the case due to a filing mistake in the way the case was brought against Ó hAnnaidh.
Goldspring had previously ruled that prosecutors needed to seek the attorney general’s permission to charge the rapper. This permission was sought and given the next day, on 22 May, but Ó hAnnaidh’s lawyers said this meant the charge fell outside the six-month timeframe in which it could be brought.
Two high court judges, Lord Justice Edis and Justice Linden, rejected an appeal by the Crown Prosecution Service on Wednesday and upheld Goldspring’s decision to rule the charge unlawful.
Their ruling said: “The judge was right to hold that he had no jurisdiction to try any summary-only offence alleged to have been committed on that date”.
The 13-page ruling said the decision “turned on a very narrow and technical legal issue and has nothing to do with whether the respondent committed the offence set out in the charge”.The judgment, written by Edis, said: “It is a matter of concern that a charge, which both the DPP and the attorney general considered met both parts of the full code test for crown prosecutors, will never now be determined.
“The respondent has not been tried for his alleged conduct and will not be tried. He has not been convicted, and he has not been acquitted.”
Kneecap are known for their provocative lyrics and merchandise, as well as their championing of the Irish language and for criticising UK government policy on Gaza in their lyrics.
On the group’s Instagram page, they posted: “Get in!!!!!! Kneecap: 3 Brit Govt: 0. The worlds biggest terrorists are the leaders of the British state. Free Palestine. Free the six counties.”
At a press conference in Belfast, Ó hAnnaidh said the case should not distract from Palestinian suffering. “This is bigger than us. Whatever kind of stress that we felt, it’s minimal compared to the stress put on the families in Gaza. We’ll continue to use whatever platform we have to talk about Gaza.”
Kneecap had lost gigs because of the case but would continue to speak out, he said. “We don’t give a fuck about the repercussions anymore.” The rapper held up a sign saying “I’m a free mawn!”, a play on the Belfast accent.
Supporters who gathered outside the press conference held Irish and Palestinian flags and a banner that read “saoirse don Phalaistin”, Irish for “freedom for Palestine”.
Sinn Féin’s MP for West Belfast, Paul Maskey, said prosecutors should not have appealed against the case. “It was another attempt to silence an artist who has been steadfast in putting the spotlight on a genocidal Israel that various governments, including the British government, have aided and abetted,” he said.
“This case was never about public safety or the proper administration of justice.”
Kneecap’s solicitor, Darragh Mackin of Phoenix Law, said in a statement: “The rule of law cannot be clearer. The prosecution of Mo Chara was unlawful from its very inception.
“This prosecution was a legally laughable witch-hunt. A witch-hunt that was born at Coachella, cultivated in Westminster, and comes to an end in West Belfast.
“There are better ways to spend British pounds than pointless prosecutions and pursuing expensive appeals. Today’s decision brings this expensive circus to an end.”
After the decision, a CPS spokesperson said: “The high court has clarified how the law applies to the issuing of written charges in summary offences where attorney general permission was required for the director of public prosecutions to consent to a prosecution.
“We accept the judgment and will update our processes accordingly.”
