PROSECUTORS will appeal against a court’s decision to throw out the terrorism case against a member of the rap group Kneecap.
Liam Og O hAnnaidh, 27, was accused of displaying a flag in support of the proscribed terrorist organisation Hezbollah at a gig in November last year, until a technical error in the way he was charged led to the chief magistrate ruling he could not try the case .
The Crown Prosecution Service said in a short statement it would be appealing against the decision because “we believe there is an important point of law which needs to be clarified”.
Following the hearing in which the case was dismissed, O hAnnaidh, who performs under the name Mo Chara, vowed the rap trio would “not be silenced”.
It comes as the Attorney General warned shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick against any future appeal earlier on Tuesday.
Richard Hermer wrote to the outspoken Tory frontbencher saying he must "carefully consider any further public comments to avoid any risk of prejudicing any future proceedings".
Jenrick had previously written to the Attorney General calling for an urgent inquiry into the issue, claiming it “raised serious questions about the competence of all those involved” after the case was thrown out.
O hAnnaidhwas charged by post on May 21, but the permission of the Attorney General or the Director of Public Prosecutions had not been sought.
After a retrospective decision to seek permission, the Metropolitan Police re-sent the postal charge to O hAnnaidh the following day, but with May 22 considered the charging date, this meant it fell outside the six-month window in which defendants should be charged.
In the letter, Lord Hermer said he had provided consent “several hours” after being asked on May 22.
The rap trio issued a statement later on Tuesday evening, saying they would fight the appeal and calling it a "massive waste of taxpayer's money".
It read: "News of a Crown Prosecution Service Appeal against the ruling of their own judge is unsurprising. He ruled the charge was 'unlawful and null' and it was.
"It is unsurprising because this whole process has not been driven by the police or the courts, it has been driven by politicians backed up by the British media. This is political policing.
"There is no 'important point of law'. The CPS has submitted nothing new in their appeal. What there is though, is a state wide witch-hunt against Palestinian solidarity.
"The media were gleefully informed about this appeal before we were."
A wee message from us 👇 pic.twitter.com/a4n2sWRBad
— KNEECAP (@KNEECAPCEOL) October 7, 2025
The statement continued: “Once again this is a massive waste of taxpayers money, of police time, of court time.
“Once again there are endless news reports about Mo Chara, about Kneecap but we are NOT the story.
"We will fight you in your court again. We will win again."
