Fans have started to gather as Kneecap return to court for the Crown Prosecution Service’s bid to overturn the ruling that led to Mo Chara’s terror charge being thrown out last year.
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Last September, the case against the Belfast rapper – real name Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – was dropped due to a technicality relating to the way in which it was brought about, with the Chief Magistrate telling the court that the charge against him was “unlawful” and “null”.
Ó hAnnaidh had been charged over an alleged incident where he reportedly displayed a Hezbollah flag during a show in London in November 2024 and shouted “up Hamas, up Hezbollah”. Both are listed as proscribed terrorist organisations by the UK government.
Judge Goldspring had agreed with Ó hAnnaidh’s lawyers that prosecutors needed to seek the permission of the Attorney General to charge the rapper before informing him on May 21 in 2025 that he would be charged with a terror offence.
This permission was given the following day, which the court heard meant the charge fell outside the six-month timeframe in which criminal charges against a defendant can be brought.
Kneecap’s DJ Provai – real name JJ O’Dochartaigh, and manager Daniel Lambert are attending the High Court hearing in London today (January 14).
Ahead of the hearing the band posted on Instagram: “GRMA to all the Fenians outside court. It’s looking like a long day in the High Court for us as the British state now wastes over a million pounds on a witch-hunt that their own judge found invalid. Don’t stop speaking about Gaza. Fuck Keir Starmer, Free Palestine, Free the 6 counties.”
Supporters of Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh (Mo Chara) of Kneecap demonstrate outside the High Court ahead of an appeal hearing in London on January 14, 2026 CREDIT: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Anadolu via Getty Images
Paul Jarvis KC, for the CPS, said the Attorney General’s permission was in place before Ó hAnnaidh’s first court appearance on June 18, meaning the requirements were met, according to ITV News.
The barrister said in written submissions that the requirement for the Attorney General or Director of Public Prosecutions’ agreement applies “when the defendant appears before the magistrates’ court to answer the charge he faces”.
Jarvis went on to say if the chief magistrate’s ruling was correct, it would likely mean proceedings would be “instituted” when written charges are issued, rather than when a defendant appears at court to answer the charge.
The barrister later said that as the Attorney General’s permission had been given on May 22, “it follows that valid consent to the respondent’s prosecution was in place before the proceedings against the respondent were ‘instituted’ on June 18, 2025”.
But Jude Bunting KC, representing Ó hAnnaidh, said Judge Goldspring’s findings were “unassailably correct”, adding in written submissions: “The answer to this appeal is straightforward… The necessary permission and consent were not provided at the time the proceedings were ‘instituted’.
“As such, the chief magistrate was plainly correct to hold that these proceedings were not instituted in the correct form within the six-month statutory time limit.”
He went on to say no previous case supported the CPS argument that magistrates’ court proceedings are only “instituted” when a defendant appears in court.
A fan of Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh (Mo Chara) of Kneecap demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice ahead of an appeal hearing in London on January 14, 2026 CREDIT: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Anadolu via Getty Images
Mr Bunting continued: “The appellant’s case is at odds with the principle that the law should be coherent: the Crown invites the court to interpret the relevant statutory scheme in a manner leading to absurd results, whereby criminal proceedings would be deemed to have been ‘instituted’ at multiple different points in the same set of proceedings.”
The case is set to conclude later today.
Kneecap have consistently denied supporting either Hamas or Hezbollah, and said that they do not incite or condone violence. They have also argued that the footage at the UK shows had been taken out of context, and described the legal action as a “carnival of distraction”.
They announced earlier this month that the UK government intended to appeal the ruling, writing on social media: “The British government has issued us notice that they will appeal the decision of their own magistrates court to throw out the case against Mo Chara. It is the view of our legal team that there is not an iota of logic for this, it is without any sound legal basis.”
They went on to say that they believe the ploy is a tactic to “distract from, and to try and silence those who stand on the right side of history”.
“As Israel today moves to ban charitable organisations providing lifesaving aid and primitive shelter to millions, the British state once again turns to vilify those who oppose genocide.”
“We will not be silent. FREE PALESTINE,” Kneecap concluded.
Last October, a spokesperson for the Crown Prosecution Service suggested they were planning on appealing the decision, saying they “believe there is an important point of law which needs to be clarified”.
Once the decision to throw out the case had been made last year, Mo Chara said that he was “absolutely” considering taking legal action against the British state, and told Prime Minister Keir Starmer: “Better luck next time”.
“Even if it had’ve went to court, we would’ve won anyway,” he added. “It was a complete circus, it was a carnival, a distraction from what’s actually going on. And the more that they dragged this out, the longer they could keep this in the news, rather than talk about the actual issues.”
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