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Liam \u00d3g \u00d3 hAnnaidh leaving court last month<\/p>\n
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said it will appeal against the decision of the chief magistrate to throw out the case against Kneecap rapper Liam Og \u00d3 hAnnaidh.<\/p>\n
Last month, the terrorism case against Mr \u00d3 hAnnaidh was dismissed<\/a> following a technical error in the way the charge against him was brought.<\/p>\n A CPS 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.”<\/p>\n In a statement issued on Instagram on Tuesday afternoon, Kneecap said it was “a massive waste of taxpayers money, of police time, of court time”. <\/p>\n The group said: “News of a CPS appeal against the ruling of their own judge is unsurprising.<\/p>\n “It is unsurprising, because the whole process has not been driven by the police or courts, it has been driven by politicians backed up by the British media.” <\/p>\n They said this is “political policing”.<\/p>\n “There is no important point of law. The CPS have submitted nothing new in their appeal. What there is though is a state wide witch-hunt against Palestinian solidarity,” the statement continued<\/a>.<\/p>\n They added: “Once again there are endless news reports about Mo Chara, about Kneecap but we are NOT the story.”<\/p>\n Mr \u00d3 hAnnaidh was charged in May after allegedly displaying a flag in support of proscribed organisation Hezbollah at a gig at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, London, in November 2024.<\/p>\n The 27-year-old, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, had denied the charge. <\/p>\n At Woolwich Crown Court on 26 September, Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring said that the charge against Mr \u00d3 hAnnaidh was “unlawful” and “null”.<\/p>\n In his judgement the chief magistrate outlined that permission was not given to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to consent to the prosecution until 22 May, a day after Mr \u00d3 hAnnaidh was charged.<\/p>\n If 22 May was considered to the be the date of the charge, that was six months and a day after the London gig where the offence allegedly happened.<\/p>\n Outlining the reasons for his decision, the chief magistrate said: “I find that these proceedings were not instituted in the correct form, lacking the necessary DPP and AG (Attorney General) consent within the six-month statutory time limit.”<\/p>\n He said the court had “no jurisdiction to try the charge”.<\/p>\n Who are Kneecap?<\/p>\n Mr \u00d3 hAnnaidh (centre) spoke to the crowd after his court appearance in June<\/p>\n![\"PA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4fe150a0-99fc-11f0-88dc-4bebfe637e18.jpg.webp.webp\")
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