‘It risks miscarriages of justice’: MPs oppose rap lyrics being used as evidence in UK trials

MPs Nadia Whittome and Kim Johnson, plus figures including Shami Chakrabarti and Annie Mac, support Art Not Evidence campaign against contentious use of lyrics

Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, DJ Annie Mac and Labour MPs Nadia Whittome and Kim Johnson are among the figures lending support to a new campaign to change how rap lyrics are used as evidence in UK criminal hearings.

According to research by the University of Manchester, at least 240 people in the UK have had rap music used against them as criminal evidence in court in the last three years, including allegations of gang membership and alleged confessions of criminal activity within lyrics. High-profile recent examples include chart-topper Digga D being given a criminal behaviour order with terms that stop him from using certain names, locations and themes in his lyrics, and prosecutors attempting to use drill lyrics in a murder case against rapper Unknown T, who was later acquitted.