Kneecap's Mo Chara will not face a terrorism trial after the High Court in London upheld a decision to throw out the case against the rapper.
Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh had been accused of displaying a flag in support of the proscribed organisation Hezbollah at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, London on November 21, 2024 “in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that he is a supporter of a proscribed organisation.”
The case against him was previously rejected in September 2025 by chief magistrate Paul Goldspring at Woolwich Crown Court, due to a legal timing issue.
Today, March 11, two high court judges, Lord Justice Edis and Justice Linden, rejected an appeal by the Crown Prosecution Service and upheld Goldspring’s decision to rule the charge unlawful.
The ruling declared, "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."
Kneecap’s solicitor, Darragh Mackin reacted to the decision by saying, “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. 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.”
