Terror case against Kneecap rapper Liam O hAnnaidh dropped following legal blunder by CPS staff

Mr O hAnnaidh, 27, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was accused of displaying a flag in support of the terrorist group Hezbollah at a gig in November last year.

But the charge of allegedly supporting a proscribed terrorist organisation was thrown out on a technicality because Lord Hermer was a day too late in giving permission for the prosecution to go ahead. He is required to approve charges in terror cases where alleged offences relate to other countries. Hezbollah is based in Lebanon.

However, the police only charged O hAnnaidh on the day the deadline ran out after being given the green light to do so by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). By the time they sought the Attorney General’s consent, it was too late and outside the six-month time limit since the alleged offence.

While Kneecap and their supporters celebrated the verdict, the Campaign Against Antisemitism said it was a "humiliating debacle" of "utter incompetence", adding that "heads must roll."

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A spokesperson said of the verdict: "This is a matter of utter incompetence by the authorities. 

"What good is our criminal justice system if it cannot get its act together in a case of a man stood draped in the flag of a proscribed terrorist organisation that wants to annihilate all Jews shouting 'Up Hamas, up Hezbollah'? 

"Heads must roll over this humiliating debacle."

A JLC spokesperson added the result was "deeply disappointing", and said: "We have a right to expect that serious offences involving proscribed terrorist organisations are prosecuted properly. "When they are not, it risks leaving these offences unaddressed and undermines confidence in the rule of law."

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: "Scumbags Kneecap expressed support for Hamas, a banned terrorist organisation. This is illegal But the prosecution failed as Attorney General Lord Hermer somehow forgot to give the required consent in time He is clearly grossly incompetent or worse & Starmer should sack him."

The court was told that Scotland Yard sought a charging decision on May 20. The CPS instructed police to charge Mr O hAnnaidh the next day, but prosecutors failed to seek permission from the Attorney General beforehand.

Lawyers for the rapper argued at a previous hearing that the Attorney General's permission was instead given the day after, one day outside of a six-month deadline to bring about a criminal charge.

Chief magistrate Paul Goldspring agreed with Mr O hAnnaidh's lawyers, saying "These proceedings were instituted unlawfully and are null."

Concluding the reasons for his decision, Mr Goldspring 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."

The Crown Prosecution Service said it was "reviewing the decision of the court carefully". It pointed out that the decision could be appealed against.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: "We are aware of the decision by the court in relation to this case. We will work with the Crown Prosecution Service to understand the potential implications of this ruling for us and how that might impact on the processing of such cases in the future."

After the verdict was given, there was loud clapping and cheering in the public gallery as the judge said: "Mr O hAnnaidh, you are free to go."

The chief magistrate told them: "You can do your celebrating outside, but the court now has other business to attend to."

Addressing the 100 or so supporters outside court Mr O hAnnaidh said: "This entire process was never about me, never about any threat to the public and never about 'terrorism', a word used by your government to discredit people you oppress. 

"It was always about Gaza. About what happens if you dare to speak up. As people from Ireland we know oppression, colonialism, famine and genocide.

"We have suffered and still suffer under 'your empire'. Your attempts to silence us have failed, because we are right, and you are wrong. We will not be silent.

"We said we would fight you in your court and we would win. We have. If anyone on this planet is guilty of terrorism, it is the British state. Free Palestine!"

Kneecap's manager Daniel Lambert wrote on X: "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 welcomed decision, saying: "These charges were part of a calculated attempt to silence those who stand up and speak out against the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

"Kneecap have used their platform on stages across the world to expose this genocide, and it is the responsibility of all of us to continue speaking out and standing against injustice in Palestine."

Lord Hermer has been dogged by controversy since he was appointed as Attorney General by Sir Keir Starmer, who counted him as a friend and former colleague.

As a a donor to Sir Keir’s Labour leadership campaign in 2020, he initially faced immediate questions over potential conflicts of interest over his previous clients who have included former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams and Isis bride Shamima Begum.

He was forced to apologise after comparing the rise of Reform and other politicians calling for the UK to quit the European Convention on Human Rights to the rise of the Nazis in 1930s Germany.

The terror charges led to the group being forced to cancel 15 tour dates in the US last August.

Last week, the Canadian government banned the group from entering the country ahead of scheduled performances in Toronto and Vancouver in October.

The group has provoked condemnation from Downing Street after footage allegedly showed them saying: “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah,” and “kill your local MP”.