UK court throws out prosecution of member of Irish rap group Kneecap

Member of the rap group Kneecap, Liam O'Hanna, also known as Liam Og O hAnnaidh and performing under the name of Mo Chara, who has been charged with a terrorism offence in relation to the alleged display of a Hezbollah flag onstage in 2024, wears a keffiyeh and a balaclava in the colours of the Irish flag, as he walks outside the Woolwich Crown Court on the day of a hearing, in London, Britain, September 26, 2025. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

LONDON (Reuters) -A member of Irish rap group Kneecap was charged with a terrorism offence for allegedly displaying a flag of Iran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah too late, a London court ruled on Friday, throwing out his prosecution.

Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, who was initially charged under the Anglicised name Liam O'Hanna and whose stage name is Mo Chara, is alleged to have waved the flag of the banned militant group Hezbollah during a Kneecap gig in London in November 2024.

The 27-year-old was charged in May under the Terrorism Act, under which it is a criminal offence to display an article in a way which arouses reasonable suspicion that someone is a supporter of a proscribed organisation.

After a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court, Judge Paul Goldpsring ruled that Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged after the six-month limit to bring such a charge which can only be dealt with by the magistrates' court.

"The charge is unlawful and null and this court has no jurisdiction to try the charge," the judge said to cheers from the public gallery.

(Reporting by Sam Tobin; editing by William James)