Judges uphold decision to drop terrorism case against Kneecap member

Kneecap rapper Liam Og O hAnnaidh will not face a new 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 charged in May 2025 with the alleged display of a flag in support of the proscribed terrorist group Hezbollah at a gig in London on 21 November 2024.

But the case against the Belfast-born Kneecap rapper was dismissed last September on technical grounds.

At the time, chief magistrate Paul Goldspring told Woolwich Crown Court that the charge was "unlawful" and he had no jurisdiction to try the case - but prosecutors appealed against the decision.

The High Court ruling was handed down remotely on Wednesday afternoon.

Lord Justice Edis, sitting with Mr Justice Linden, said 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".

In the 13-page decision, Lord Justice Edis said their 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".

In a statement released through his lawyers, O hAnnaidh said: "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."

Speaking at a news conference in Belfast shortly after the ruling, O hAnnaidh added: "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."

He said the band has "lost gigs" and been "restricted" as a result of the court proceedings, but will continue to use their platform to talk about Palestine as they no longer fear "repercussions".

Following 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."

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After O hAnnaidh was charged, he first appeared in court in June.

At a second hearing in August, the rapper's lawyers argued prosecutors should have sought the permission of the attorney general, the chief legal adviser to the Crown, to charge him with a terror offence before informing him of the decision on 21 May last year.

This permission was instead given the following day, which meant it fell outside the six-month timeframe in which criminal charges against a defendant can be brought for this type of offence, the court was told.

(c) Sky News 2026: Judges uphold decision to drop terrorism case against Kneecap member