CPS loses appeal over Kneecap rapper terror case

Kneecap rapper Liam Og O hAnnaidh will not face a terror trial after judges at the High Court rejected a Crown Prosecution Service appeal against the decision to throw out the case.

The rapper, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was accused of displaying a flag in support of proscribed terror organisation Hezbollah at a gig at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London, on November 21 2024.

But the case was thrown out in September last year, with chief magistrate Paul Goldspring ruling the proceedings were “instituted unlawfully”.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) appealed against the decision at the High Court at a hearing in January, with the Kneecap rapper opposing the challenge.

In a judgment on Wednesday, two judges at the High Court upheld the decision and dismissed the CPS appeal.

Judge Goldspring had agreed with O hAnnaidh’s lawyers that prosecutors needed to seek the Attorney General’s permission to charge the rapper before informing him on May 21 that he would be charged with a terror offence.

This permission was sought and given the following day, which the court heard meant the charge fell outside the six-month time frame in which criminal charges against a defendant can be brought.

Lord Justice Edis, sitting with Mr Justice Linden, said in Wednesday’s decision that “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”.

He said: “The respondent has not been tried for his alleged conduct on September 21 2025 and will not be tried.

“He has not been convicted, and he has not been acquitted.”

In a statement provided through his lawyers, O hAnnaidh said after the decision: “I owe eternal gratitude to my legal team, who left no stone unturned in ensuring justice was upheld.

“This entire process was never about me, never about any threat to the public and never about ‘terrorism’, a word used by the British Government to discredit people you oppress both in Ireland and across the world.

“It was always about Palestine and about what happens if you dare to speak up. About what happens if you can reach large groups of people and expose their hypocrisy.

“I will not be silent. Kneecap will not be silent.”

Speaking at a press conference in Belfast shortly after the ruling, O hAnnaidh said: “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,” he added, saying the band has “lost gigs” and been “restricted” as a result of the court proceedings.

The CPS said “we accept the judgment and will update our processes accordingly” after the ruling.

A spokesperson added: “The High Court has clarified how the law applies to the issuing of written charges in summary offences where Attorney General permission is required for the Director of Public Prosecutions to consent to a prosecution.”

In the 13-page decision, Lord Justice Edis 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”.

Lord Justice Edis said the proceedings against the rapper were “instituted” on May 21 2025, rather than at a later date in the time limit.

He continued: “It is a matter of concern that a charge which both the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Attorney General considered met both parts of the full code test for crown prosecutors will never now be determined.

“There was, they decided, a realistic prospect of conviction and the prosecution was in the public interest.

“We have not investigated the reasons for this failure and nor do we seek to attribute blame.”

Published: 11/03/2026 by Radio NewsHub