The Daily Mail (U.K.) reports:
A British National Party election candidate [Sion Owens] accused of publicly burning a copy of the Koran was freed today when the charge against him was unexpectedly dropped….
It is understood that his release was due to a technicality regarding the Act under which he was arrested and charged.
An unconfirmed source in court today claimed that the permission of the Attorney General must be sought before such a charge can be made.
In the case of Mr Owens, it was not….
[The prosecutor] said … ‘I want the defendant and his legal representatives to be in no doubt that the withdrawal of the charge this morning does not mean that no proceedings will be taken.
‘Almost certainly other proceedings will ensue.’ …
Thanks to Dmitry Ostrovsky for the pointer.