Northern Ireland's Court of Appeal ruled that magistrates courts cannot hear cases under Article 10 of the Public Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 without a consent certificate from the Director of Public Prosecutions. The judgment ended proceedings against David Stitt, 55, from Lord Warden’s Court in Bangor, County Down.

Stitt faced a charge of publishing threatening, abusive or insulting material intended to stir up hatred. The charge related to a July 2024 Facebook post that responded to the killing of three young girls in Southport, England. The post called for protests in parts of Belfast, Newtownabbey and north Down to halt the country. It advised women and children to stand at the front and stated there was one chance to stop the spread of Islam.

Police arrested Stitt at Belfast City Airport in August 2024 after his return from Alicante, Spain. In interviews, Stitt said he used a private Facebook account visible to about 700 friends. He described the post as a reshare of another person's content about peaceful protests.

Stitt's defence appealed to the Court of Appeal to halt the case before any magistrates trial. Lord Justice McCloskey ruled in Stitt's favour.

John Larkin KC, representing the defence, stated the case could not return to magistrates court. Gavin Booth, Stitt’s solicitor at Phoenix Law, said the Public Prosecution Service did not initiate proceedings correctly. Stitt did not attend the hearing.