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  "path": "/celebrity/kneecap-terror-trial-cps-appeal-rejected",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-11T15:50:36.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "Stacey Solomon admits to feeling 'really sad' over upcoming family milestone: 'Going to cry all day'",
    "Paloma Faith welcomes third child as singer shares candid post following hospital stay",
    "Gogglebox star admits cast were told to 'slaughter' politicians days after show in 'bias' row",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nKneecap rapper Liam Og O hAnnaidh will not face a terror trial after judges at the High Court rejected a Crown Prosecution Service appeal against the decision to throw out the case.\n\nThe rapper, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was accused of displaying a flag in support of proscribed terror organisation Hezbollah at a gig at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London, on November 21, 2024.****\n\n**\n**\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nHowever, the case was thrown out in September last year, with chief magistrate Paul Goldspring ruling the proceedings were “instituted unlawfully”.\n\nThe Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) appealed against the decision at the High Court at a hearing in January, with the Kneecap rapper opposing the challenge.\n\n**\n**\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\nOn Wednesday, two judges at the High Court upheld the decision and dismissed the CPS appeal.\n\nJudge Goldspring had agreed with Mr O hAnnaidh’s lawyers that prosecutors needed to seek the Attorney General’s permission to charge the rapper before informing him on May 21 that he would be charged with a terror offence.\n\nThis permission was sought and given the following day, which the court heard meant the charge fell outside the six-month time frame in which criminal charges against a defendant can be brought.\n\nLord Justice Edis, sitting with Mr Justice Linden, said in Wednesday’s decision that “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”.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nHe said: “The respondent has not been tried for his alleged conduct on November 21 2025 and will not be tried.\n\n“He has not been convicted, and he has not been acquitted.”\n\nIn a statement provided through his lawyers, Mr O hAnnaidh said after the decision: “I owe eternal gratitude to my legal team, who left no stone unturned in ensuring justice was upheld.\n\n“This entire process was never about me, never about any threat to the public and never about ‘terrorism’, a word used by the British Government to discredit people you oppress both in Ireland and across the world.\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS\n\n\n\n\n  * Stacey Solomon admits to feeling 'really sad' over upcoming family milestone: 'Going to cry all day'\n  * Paloma Faith welcomes third child as singer shares candid post following hospital stay\n  * Gogglebox star admits cast were told to 'slaughter' politicians days after show in 'bias' row\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n“It was always about Palestine and about what happens if you dare to speak up. About what happens if you can reach large groups of people and expose their hypocrisy.\n\n“I will not be silent. Kneecap will not be silent.”\n\nSpeaking at a press conference in Belfast shortly after the ruling, O hAnnaidh said: “This is bigger than us – whatever kind of stress that we felt, it’s minimal compared to the stress put on the families in Gaza.”\n\n“We’ll continue to use whatever platform we have to talk about Gaza,” he added, saying the band has “lost gigs” and been “restricted” as a result of the court proceedings.\n\n**\n**\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe CPS said “we accept the judgment and will update our processes accordingly” after the ruling.\n\nA spokesperson added: “The High Court has clarified how the law applies to the issuing of written charges in summary offences where Attorney General permission is required for the Director of Public Prosecutions to consent to a prosecution.”\n\n**More to follow**\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards:The GB News Editorial Charter **",
  "title": "Kneecap rapper will not face terror trial as CPS appeal rejected by high court"
}