Woolwich Crown Court erupted in cheers and applause this morning (September 26) as Irish language rapper Mo Chara (real name Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh) heard that the charges brought against him for allegedly supporting Hamas, a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK, have been dismissed under a technicality. 

Irish broadcaster RTÉ reports that Woolwich Crown Court’s chief magistrate Paul Goldspring concluded that the terrorism charges were “unlawful and null”. The conclusion landed in agreement with the case made by Ó hAnnaidh’s lawyers, who argued that the Attorney General had not given permission for the case to be brought against Ó hAnnaidh when police initially informed him he was to face the charge in May of this year.

“I find that these proceedings were not instituted in the correct form, lacking the necessary DPP [Director of Public Prosecutions] and AG [Attorney General] consent within the six-month statutory time limit set by section 127,” chief magistrate Goldspring ruled, referring to a technicality in which Attorney General permission is required before beginning prosecution in cases that are likely to attract significant public interest or national security implications. 

Goldspring continued: “The time limit requires consent to have been granted at the time or before the issue of the requisition [...] and consequently the charge is unlawful and null and this court has no jurisdiction to try the charge.”

The charges against the 27-year old Belfast rapper and actor stem from a November 2024 incident during a Kneecap performance at the O2 Kentish Town, in which Ó hAnnaidh allegedly shouted “up Hamas, up Hezbollah” while waving the flag of the Lebanese political party and paramilitary group.

Ó hAnnaidh has consistently denied the allegations, while, in the wake of the charges, Kneecap branded the case a “carnival of distraction” intended to direct attention away from the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Across all three of his court appearances, Ó hAnnaidh has received significant support from both fans and fellow artists. His previous hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court last month featured a demonstration organised by music protest charity Love Music Hate Racism, as well as performances from Maverick Sabre, Biig Piig, Jehlani Blackman, Nadine Shah and more, while hundreds of attendees wore Kneecap’s signature tri-colour balaclava in solidarity with the rapper.