Darragh Mackin

The English High Court yesterday found that a judge was right to find that he had no jurisdiction to try a charge against Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, who performs as Mo Chara.

Mr Ó hAnnaidh had denied offences under section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000 over the alleged display of a Hezbollah flag at a concert in London in November 2024.

The matter came before Westminster Magistrates’ Court last September, where Judge Paul Goldspring said the proceedings “were not instituted in the correct form”.

The central issue was a “very narrow and technical legal issue” concerning a statutory six-month time limit in which the Attorney General was required to give permission for the proceedings, which was missed.

The High Court judgment confirms that the attempted prosecution was not lawfully instituted and cannot proceed.

Lord Justice Edis said: “It would be quite wrong to adopt strained and unnatural constructions of plain words in primary legislation in order to save one summary only case from the application of that important time limit.”

Darragh Mackin, partner at Phoenix Law, led Mr Ó hAnnaidh’s legal team with Gareth Peirce, alongside counsel team of Jude Bunting KC, Brenda Campbell KC, Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh KC and Rosalind Comyn.

Welcoming the ruling, Mr Mackin said: “In times of political pressure and provocation, the rule of law must prevail.

“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, 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.

“The Divisional Court’s finding that the prosecution relied on ‘strained’ arguments to revive a single charge speaks for itself.

“The CPS went to great lengths to pursue Liam Óg. It is hard to see this case ever reaching the Divisional Court if the defendant were anyone else.”

Mr Ó hAnnaidh said: “I owe eternal gratitude to my legal team, who left no stone unturned in ensuring justice was upheld.

“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.

“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.

“I will not be silent. Kneecap will not be silent.”