LAST UPDATE | 26 Sep

THE CASE AGAINST Kneecap’s Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh has been thrown out by the chief magistrate sitting at Woolwich Crown Court this morning following an error in the way the charge against him was brought.

Ó hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, had been accused of displaying a flag in support of proscribed terror organisation Hezbollah at a gig in London in November last year.

Ó hAnnaidh’s lawyer Brenda Campbell KC told a court last month that the Attorney General had not given permission for the case to be brought against the defendant when police informed him he was to face a terror charge on 21 May.

She said consent was given the following day, which meant the charge fell outside the six-month timeframe in which criminal charges against a defendant can be brought.

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring told Woolwich Crown Court that the charge against Ó hAnnaidh was “unlawful” and “null”.

Concluding the reasons for his decision, he said: “I find that these proceedings were not instituted in the correct form, lacking the necessary DPP and AG consent within the six-month statutory time limit set by section 127.

“The time limit requires consent to have been granted at the time or before the issue of the requisition.

“Consequently the charge is unlawful and null and this court has no jurisdiction to try the charge.”

Ó hAnnaidh was not required to enter a plea to the charges against him and the prosecution now falls. 

Reaction

File photo of Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, AKA Mo Chara Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

In response to the decision, Ó hAnnaidh’s solicitor Darragh Mackin said in a post on X: “The prosecution case was instituted unlawfully. The case ends today.”

He added: “Victory to Mo Chara. Victory to Kneecap. Victory to the freedom of expression.”

Kneecap’s manager Daniel Lambert also wrote on social media: “We have won!!!!!!

“Liam Og is a free man. We said we would fight them and win. We did (Twice). Kneecap has NO charges OR convictions in ANY country, EVER.

Political policing has failed. Kneecap is on the right side of history. Britain is not. Free Palestine.

Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill also welcomed the decision, calling the charges “a calculated attempt to silence those who stand up and speak out against the Israeli genocide in Gaza”.  
https://x.com/moneillsf/status/1971512600220279142

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Protests

Ó hAnnaidh has been welcomed by hundreds of fans at both of his previous court appearances – with many waving flags and holding banners.

Further protests were organised for today with Kneecap criticising a move by London’s Metropolitan Police to restrict where supporters could gather outside the court. 

In a post on social media this morning, Kneecap described today’s proceedings as a “carnival of distraction”. 

With reporting from Rónán Duffy and David Mac Redmond