Kneecap Glastonbury probe dropped - investigation into on-stage comments unlikely to result in successful prosecution, says English force
English police have dropped a probe into whether or not Kneecap committed a criminal offence during their performance at last month’s Glastonbury Festival.
Avon and Somerset Police said they will be taking “no further action” on the grounds that there is “insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offence”.
The investigation was announced in June after officers reviewed video footage and audio recordings from the sets of Kneecap and rap-punk duo Bob Vylan at the Somerset festival.
During their afternoon show, Kneecap accused the UK government of enabling genocide, branded Israel “war criminals”, led the crowd in chants of “f*** Keir Starmer” and pledged to support now-outlawed organisation Palestine Action, which was proscribed as a terrorist group after members broke into an RAF base to vandalise planes.
The controversy-courting trio also appeared to invite fans to riot outside the next court appearance of 27-year-old rapper Liam O hAnnaidh, currently on bail for a terror charge – only to later backtrack and insist they only want “love and support”.
Today (Friday) the Avon and Somerset force said they had been investigating “comments about a forthcoming court case made during Kneecap’s performance”, but after speaking to prosecutors decided to abandon the probe as “there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offence”.
On social media, Kneecap branded the investigation into whether or not they had done anything wrong as “one element of the political policing intimidation attempt” that they stated is now “over”.
Going on to claim that their hour-long mid-afternoon set on Glastonbury’s third-largest stage was “historic”, the band appeared to link the probe into their on-stage actions to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s comment that he didn’t think it was appropriate for them to appear at the festival.
Unusually, the BBC didn’t stream Kneecap’s set live, though an edited version was uploaded to iPlayer the following morning and is still accessible now.
For TUV deputy leader Ron McDowell, the broadcaster’s decision to make the performance available is “shameful”, even though nothing the band did was criminal.
“While the police have made this decision, it is still shameful that the BBC stream Kneecap on iPlayer - including an apparent call for disorder outside a court of law,” he said.
“Let’s not forget that a terrorism charge is still live against a member of the band, while the nature of their act is a matter of public record.
“The big questions around this relate not to the criminal justice process and the decision of the police in this instance, but the lack of judgement displayed by the national broadcaster.”
A probe against punk-rap act Bob Vylan, on stage just before Kneecap, continues. The Belfast rap trio’s social media statement did not mention the other investigation.
O hAnnaidh faces court for supporting proscribed organisation Hezbollah, relating to alleged conduct during a London gig last November.