Police drop investigation into Kneecap's Glastonbury performance

No further action will be taken against Kneecap over their performance at Glastonbury, police have said.

Last month, Avon and Somerset Police launched a criminal investigation into comments made on stage by the Irish language rap trio at the music festival.

On Friday, the force said detectives had sought advice from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and chosen not to take any further action against Kneecap on the grounds that there was "insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offence".

Kneecap called the investigation "political policing intimidation" and said their performance was a "celebration of love and solidarity".

"This is political," they said.

"Every single person who saw our set knew no law was broken, not even close."

Kneecap had faced weeks of controversy over their pro-Palestinian stance, with Sharon Osbourne calling for their US visas to be revoked over messages they displayed on stage at Coachella.

The question over whether Kneecap should even perform at Glastonbury drew comment over the weeks before the festival, with the prime minister stepping in to say he did not think it was "appropriate".

Group member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh had appeared in court charged with a terror offence, related to allegedly displaying a flag at a gig in November in support of proscribed organisation Hezbollah.

He denies the charge.

Kneecap did perform but the BBC did not livestream their performance.

Police said their enquiries into pop-punk duo Bob Vylan continue.

The duo, whose set was broadcast live, led the crowd at the festival in chants of "death, death to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]".

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy called the scenes "appalling and unacceptable", and the BBC apologised for not cutting the feed.

Police did not specify which part of Bob Vylan's or Kneecap's sets were subject to criminal investigation.

But in an earlier statement they said they had recorded them as a public order incident.

Analysis: Robbie Meredith, BBC News NI Education and Arts Correspondent

Kneecap are a band on the up, with a passionate fan base, but most of the headlines they have generated have not been about their music.

The BBC had judged them as "high risk" ahead of their performance at Glastonbury and so did not live stream it.

But Kneecap's set at the festival led to a police investigation nevertheless.

Avon and Somerset Police have now clarified that it was "comments about a forthcoming court case made during Kneecap's performance," that they were investigating.

In reference to an upcoming court hearing involving band member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, Kneecap's Naoise Ó Cairealláin told the Glastonbury crowd they would "start a riot outside the courts".

Though he subsequently told the crowd: "No riots, just love and support, and support for Palestine."

A police investigation followed, but according to Avon and Somerset police to prove an offence may have required them to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that there was an intention by the band to start a riot.

The police and the CPS seem to have judged that there was no realistic prospect of that.

Kneecap have been characteristically defiant in response, questioning why the police investigated the performance in the first place.