Hacker's extradition 'could be suicidal' (From Enfield Independent)

Hacker's extradition 'could be suicidal'

9:24am Thursday 22nd January 2009

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(1)

THE Palmers Green computer hacker could be a suicide risk if he is sent to the US to stand trial, the High Court heard.

Gary McKinnon, 42, has signed a confession under British law to try to avoid extradition to the US.

He faces a trial in America and up to 80 years in prison if found guilty of hacking into 97 US military computers from his home.

But the recent diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome has thrown a lifeline to his lawyers, who have gone to court to seek a judicial review into his extradition.

Edward Fitzgerald QC told the court on Tuesday that his medical condition could lead to psychosis or suicide if he is taken far from his family.

US officials say he put national security at risk when he hacked into US Defence Department systems, causing £354,000 of damage, in 2001-2.

Mr McKinnon signed a statement last week offering to plead guilty to a different charge under UK law. The Crown Prosecution Service said it would look at it.

Speaking for the hacker, lawyer Karen Todner said he still denies causing the damage but has offered to plead guilty under UK law to being in breach of the Misuse of Computers Act.

She said: “They are different offences to what he was being extradited for but it reflects his culpability for what he did.”

His mother Janis Sharp said her son’s Asperger’s Syndrome could have influenced his actions.

She said: “Asperger’s turns a passion into an obsession. Gary wouldn’t sleep. He wouldn’t eat. We don’t want him to get off. We just want him to be tried here.”

Following his diagnosis with Asperger’s, a form of autism that affects social skills, his solicitors asked the Home Office to have the case heard in the UK. The Home Secretary refused the request.

Mr McKinnon admits targeting US computers using the codename Solo but he has always said he was only looking for UFOs.

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(1)