Cliff Notes
- The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) plans to appeal a chief magistrate’s dismissal of a terrorism case against Liam Og O hAnnaidh of Kneecap, citing an important legal point that needs clarification.
- O hAnnaidh’s case was thrown out due to a technical error; it was determined that prosecutors needed permission from the attorney general prior to charging him with a terror offence.
- Following the dismissal, O hAnnaidh expressed that the case was more about political expression regarding Gaza rather than actual terrorism threats.
Prosecutors to appeal against decision to throw out terrorism case against Kneecap rapper | UK News
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The Crown Prosecution Service says it will appeal against the chief magistrate’s decision to throw out the terrorism case against a member of hip hop trio Kneecap.
Liam Og O hAnnaidh, 27, was charged with the alleged display of a flag in support of the proscribed terrorist group Hezbollah at a London gig last November.
But the case against the Belfast-born rapper, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was dismissed due to a technical error.
Chief magistrate Paul Goldspring told Woolwich Crown Court in September that the charge brought against O hAnnaidh was “unlawful” and that he had no jurisdiction to try the case.
On Tuesday, a Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson said: “We are appealing the decision to dismiss this case as we believe there is an important point of law which needs to be clarified.”
Mr Goldspring agreed with O hAnnaidh’s lawyers that prosecutors needed to seek the permission of the attorney general to charge the rapper before informing him on 21 May that he would be charged with a terror offence.
It is understood the CPS’s position is that permission only needed to be obtained before his first court hearing, which took place around a month later.
Prosecutors allege O hAnnaidh can be seen in a recording of a gig at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London, which shows him wearing and displaying the flag of Hezbollah while saying “up Hamas, up Hezbollah”.
The decision to appeal against the judgment comes as Attorney General Lord Hermer warned shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick not to prejudice future proceedings against O hAnnaidh, asking him to “carefully consider any further public comments”.
Mr Jenrick had previously written to Lord Hermer calling for an urgent inquiry into the issue, claiming it “raised serious questions about the competence of all those involved”.
Following the hearing in which the case was dismissed, O hAnnaidh vowed Kneecap would “not be silenced”.
Speaking afterwards, he said the process was never about him, “any threat to the public” or terrorism.
It was, he said, “always about Gaza, about what happens if you dare to speak up”.
In an interview with Virgin Media News, the rapper told Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer “better luck next time”, adding: “Even if it had went to court we would have won anyway.”
Last year, Kneecap won a discrimination case against the UK government after Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch tried to refuse them a £14,250 funding award when she was business secretary.