Gary McKinnon extradition for US military hacking blocked

Mr McKinnon has been firing against extradition since 2002.  He admits that he accessed US government computers but states that he did so to find evidence of UFOs.  

US authorities described this as the "biggest military computer hack of all time".  They believe the hacking was intentional and calculated.  It also resulted in caused $800,000 (£487,000) worth of damage to military computers.  Mr McKinnon faced a potential 60 year jail sentence if convicted.

Having previously lost appeals in the High Court and House of Lords two years ago a High Court Judge ruled that there was a risk of suicide if Mr McKinnon was extradited.  This led the Home Secretary to appoint psychiatrists on behalf of the Home Office earlier this year to assess his condition.

Speaking earlier Mrs May stated “After careful consideration of all of the relevant material, I have concluded that Mr McKinnon's extradition would rise to such a high risk of him ending his life, that a decision to extradite would be incompatible with Mr McKinnon's human rights. I have therefore withdrawn the extradition order against Mr McKinnon."

The decision has been met with a positive reaction.  Mr McKinnon’s MP, David Burrowes, tweeted "Compassion and pre-election promises delivered today."  The Major of London Boris Johnson stated "To extradite a man diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome to America for trial would have been extraordinarily cruel and inhumane. I applaud the government's stance. If they had approved extradition they'd have been saying that extradition on any grounds was OK. It's not."

The case will now be looked at by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, to determine whether Mr McKinnon should now face trial in the UK.


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