High Court rejects prosecutors' appeal to maintain terror charges against Kneecap's Mo Chara

The UK High Court has denied the Crown Prosecution Service's (CPS) appeal to reinstate terror charges against Kneecap's Mo Chara after they were thrown out by a court last year. 

The Belfast rapper, real name Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, was charged by anti-terror investigators last year after footage resurfaced of him allegedly holding a Hezbollah flag - a proscribed organisation under the 2000 Terrorism Act - during a performance at the Kentish Town O2, London, in November 2024.

Following a months-long court case, Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring threw out the charges against Ó hAnnaidh in September due to a clerical error from the CPS, who had failed to file the charges before the statutory six-month limit. 

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CPS prosecutors launched an appeal against the decision in October, with a spokesperson telling The Guardian that it was "an important point of law which needs to be clarified.”

On Wednesday (March 11), two High Court judges ruled to uphold that the charges against Mo Chara were unlawful, writing in their ruling: “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.”

“It is a matter of concern that a charge, which both the DPP and the attorney general considered met both parts of the full code test for crown prosecutors, will never now be determined," they continue. “The respondent has not been tried for his alleged conduct and will not be tried. He has not been convicted, and he has not been acquitted.”

Mo Chara spoke at a press conference in Belfast following the ruling, insisting that the decision is "bigger than us," and that "whatever kind of stress that we felt, it’s minimal compared to the stress put on the families in Gaza. We’ll continue to use whatever platform we have to talk about Gaza.” 

In response to the High Court's ruling, Kneecap wrote via Instagram yesterday (March 11): “Get in!!!!!! Kneecap: 3 Brit Govt: 0. The world's biggest terrorists are the leaders of the British state. Free Palestine. Free the six counties.”

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In a statement sent to Mixmag, Mo Chara's solicitor Darragh Mackin said: “The rule of law cannot be clearer. The prosecution of Mo Chara was unlawful from its very inception.

"This prosecution was a legally laughable witch hunt. A witch hunt that was born at Coachella, cultivated in Westminster, and comes to an end in West Belfast," he continues. “There are better ways to spend British pounds than pointless prosecutions and pursuing expensive appeals. Today’s decision brings this expensive circus to an end.”

In response to losing the appeal, a CPS spokesperson told The Guardian: “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.” 

Megan Townsend is Mixmag's Deputy Editor, follow her on X