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LAST UPDATE | 14 Jan
AN APPEAL AGAINST a British judge’s decision to throw out the terrorism case against Kneecap rapper Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh has ended at the UK High Court today.
The rapper, who performs under the 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, in November 2024.
But the case was thrown out on technical grounds in September last year, with chief magistrate Paul Goldspring ruling that the proceedings were “instituted unlawfully”.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced the following month that it would appeal against the decision, stating that the case involved an “important point of law which needs to be clarified”.
Ó hAnnaidh is opposing the appeal, with Kneecap stating last year that “we will win again”.
At the end of the hearing today, Lord Justice Edis, who presided over the hearing along with Justice Linden, told the three members of Kneecap: “You have obviously given us a great deal to think about. We will be reserving judgment.”
Judge Edis continued: “It means that the judgment will be published digitally.”
This means that there will not necessarily be a further hearing at which the judgement will be read out – it will be announced on the internet.
“It is probably not going to be necessary to have a further hearing because the consequences of whatever decision we reach will be fairly clear,” Judge Edis continued.
“If we uphold the chief magistrate and agree with him, the order he made will stand.
“If we do not… then it will go back so that he or one of his colleagues will proceed to hear it and deal with it,” Edis added.
Ahead of the hearing, supporters of the group turned out to stage a protest.
A small stage was set up as well as a sign reading ‘Kneecap Junction’ on the street outside the court, where protesters waved Irish and Palestinian flags and held signs.
John Finucane, Sinn Féin MP for North Belfast, went on the stage to address the protesters.
He said: “We will continue to stand with Liam.
“We will continue to stand on the right side of history. We stand with Palestine. End the genocide. Free Palestine.”
Kneecap’s JJ O’Dochartaigh, whose stage name is DJ Provaí, and manager Daniel Lambert are attending the hearing in London.
Kneecap’s JJ Ó Dochartaigh, whose stage name is DJ Provaí, thanked protesters who as he left the court this afternoon.
“Thanks very much for your support, and we need to keep it going,” Ó Dochartaigh said.
In a statement on social media, the rap trio dismissed the appeal as “a distraction from the complicity of the British government in genocide”.
“Today more Palestinians were murdered by Israel. More homes demolished and more children dead due to cold and lack of aid not permitted to enter by Israel,” the group wrote.
That is the only thing about this whole witch-hunt worth talking about.
“Today was a waste of public time, and public money. We now believe over a million pounds have been wasted. Tax payer money that could and should have been spent on improving the lives of ordinary people,” they added.
Paul Jarvis KC, for the CPS, said the Attorney General’s permission was in place before Ó hAnnaidh’s first court appearance on 18 June, meaning the requirements were met.
The barrister said in written submissions that the requirement for the Attorney General or Director of Public Prosecutions’ agreement applies “when the defendant appears before the magistrates’ court to answer the charge he faces”.
Mr Jarvis continued: “That interpretation is consistent with the case law both before and after the introduction of that particular consent provision and applies irrespective of whether the offence is summary-only or indictable.”
The barrister said if the chief magistrate’s ruling was correct, it would likely mean proceedings would be “instituted” when written charges are issued, rather than when a defendant appears at court to answer the charge.
Mr Jarvis said:
The appellant submits that that is an example of the tail wagging the dog.
The barrister later said that as the Attorney General’s permission had been given on May 22, “it follows that valid consent to the respondent’s prosecution was in place before the proceedings against the respondent were ‘instituted’ on 18 June 2025”.
However, Jude Bunting KC, for Ó hAnnaidh, said Judge Goldspring’s findings were “unassailably correct”.
He continued in written submissions: “The answer to this appeal is straightforward… The necessary permission and consent were not provided at the time the proceedings were ‘instituted’.
“As such, the chief magistrate was plainly correct to hold that these proceedings were not instituted in the correct form within the six-month statutory time limit.”
The barrister said no previous case supported the CPS argument that magistrates’ court proceedings are only “instituted” when a defendant appears in court.
Mr Bunting continued: “The appellant’s case is at odds with the principle that the law should be coherent: the Crown invites the court to interpret the relevant statutory scheme in a manner leading to absurd results, whereby criminal proceedings would be deemed to have been ‘instituted’ at multiple different points in the same set of proceedings.”
The barrister later said written charges can lead to defendants pleading by post and never appearing in court in person.
He continued: “A lack of consent or permission at the time of charge could therefore lead to a defendant pleading guilty by post, and thereafter being summarily convicted of a charge issued by the police, to which the Director of Public Prosecutions had not and might never have consented, and which the Attorney General had not or would not have permitted.”
Prosecutors had alleged Ó hAnnaidh could be seen in a recording of the gig in 2024 wearing and displaying the flag of Hezbollah while saying “up Hamas, up Hezbollah”.
After the CPS announced its appeal, Kneecap said in a social media post: “Once again, this is a massive waste of taxpayers’ money, of police time, of court time.
“Once again, there are endless news reports about Mo Chara, about Kneecap, but we are NOT the story.
“We will fight you in your court again. We will win again.”
With reporting from Press Association
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