Hacker Gary McKinnon loses extradition appeal

[Lt-DavidW]

British hacker Gary McKinnon has lost his latest High Court bid to avoid extradition to the United States.

US authorities want to try the 43-year-old, from Wood Green, north London, for breaking into US military and Nasa computers in 2001 and 2002.

Mr McKinnon admits hacking, but denies it was malicious or that he caused damage costing $800,000 (?487,000).

He had challenged refusals by the home secretary and director of public prosecutions to try him in the UK.

'Lawful and proportionate'>

Glasgow-born Mr McKinnon had asked the court to rule on whether the CPS was right to say he could not be prosecuted in the UK, and also whether his Asperger's Syndrome meant he could not be extradited to the US.

But, in a 41-page ruling, the judges said extradition was "a lawful and proportionate response to his offending".

He faces up to 70 years in prison if convicted in the US of what prosecutors have called "the biggest military computer hack of all time".

He has always insisted he was looking for classified documents on UFOs which he believed the US authorities had suppressed.

Speaking outside the High Court, his mother, Janis Sharp, said her son had been "naive enough to admit to computer misuse without having a lawyer and without one being present".

"We are heartbroken. If the law says it's fair to destroy someone's life in this way then it's a bad law."

Mr McKinnon accessed 97 government computers belonging to organisations including the US Navy and Nasa.

In February the Crown Prosecution Service refused to bring charges against Mr McKinnon in the UK.

The decision followed a ruling last October by then Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to allow his extradition.

Mr McKinnon has already appealed unsuccessfully to the House of Lords and the European Court of Human Rights and his latest judicial reviews in the High Court are likely to be his last chance.

His lawyers say the authorities have not given proper consideration to his Asperger's Syndrome, which could have "disastrous consequences," including suicide, if he was to be extradited.

They argued he was "eccentric" rather than malicious and should be tried on lesser charges in the UK to protect his mental health.

The National Autistic Society said it was "disappointed" and "angry" over the decision.

"The NAS has campaigned hard for his extradition to be reconsidered in the light of his diagnosis of Asperger syndrome," chief executive Mark Lever said.

"People with Asperger syndrome are often far more vulnerable than initial appearances would suggest, frequently isolated, often bullied and sadly many experience severe mental health problems if they do not get the right support.

"We are extremely disappointed that the High Court has decided to continue with Gary's extradition despite these concerns.

Source: BBC News

[Miuku.]

And the dog jumps in rhythm with the stick.

[MightyJordan]

Thank god they made the right decision. His condition doesn't really excuse him for what he did.

[thealexweb]

He may be allowed to go back to the EU to ask them to reconsider since his now has an illness. Still it's a sad day.

The UK Government is just caving in on purpose so not to anger the American Government The European Union however is large enough and important enough so that factor doesn't apply to them.

[Digitalx]

Thank god they made the right decision. His condition doesn't really excuse him for what he did.

May as well kill himself now then probably be more suitable then rotting in a US prison over petty offense...

[bdsams Veteran]

Internet crimes should not go unpunished, if you break the law expect to be punished for your crimes.

[Panacik]

Im torn on this one.

One side, his illness is not an excuse. My nephew knows right from wrong and has Aspergus. he does something wrong, he gets punished and doesnt do it again.

Other side, i feel the UK might be caving in because it is the US that want him. Had it been Germany or any other country, would the UK have been so quick to hand him over?

[jakem1]

Thank god they made the right decision. His condition doesn't really excuse him for what he did.

Even if you don't think there were mitigating circumstances you must admit that it's outrageous for the man to be tried in the US for a crime that was committed in the UK. To make matters worse, the poor man is being treated like public enemy #1 and has been subjected to threats and abuse from the Americans for what amounts to a trivial crime.

[Berserk87]

Internet crimes should not go unpunished, if you break the law expect to be punished for your crimes.

Murder = 40 years, often less.

Hacking into a US computer network that was poorly protected and causing no intentional damage = 70 years...........

[jakem1]

Murder = 40 years, often less.

Hacking into a US computer network that was poorly protected and causing no intentional damage = 70 years...........

And McKinnon would probably get a community service order (a much more appropriate sentence) if he was tried for this crime in the UK as he should be.

[ScottKin]

Murder = 40 years, often less.

Hacking into a US computer network that was poorly protected and causing no intentional damage = 70 years...........

1 incident of hacking, I'd agree with you.

97? This shows intent, malicious intent and total disregard for the law. Throw the book at him.

So what if he is made an example of? Maybe it's about time someone *was* seriously made an example of in hacking cases.

--ScottKin

[thealexweb]

He should face justice but in a court in the UK where he won't be given silly and unrealistic punishment. He looked at unsecured computers, he did America one of the biggest favours it ever has been done, he revealed how poor their security really was. What if a spy from china had done it?

[REM2000]

agreed, he should be put in front of a British court, at the end of the day there are plenty of other crimes which are a lot worse with less penalty

[Ricardo Gil]

Never heard of him

[MidnightDevil]

Nonsense... 70 years.. its outrageous ... plus I don't see his hacking did $800,000 in damage... such insensitive stupid people and laws!

[TheElite]

One more incident where it shows that the UK gov is the US's bitch.

[Brodel]

Thank god they made the right decision. His condition doesn't really excuse him for what he did.

They aren't saying his disability excuses him, they are saying how extradition could effect him given his disability.

[thealexweb]

Nonsense... 70 years.. its outrageous ... plus I don't see his hacking did $800,000 in damage... such insensitive stupid people and laws!

I don't think any evidence have ever been brought to table over the fincial cost of what he did, probably just an overinflated number.

[McSmiggins]

Leave the door open and people are going to walk in! NASA and the US Navy got off seriously lightly with this one, all that cost they're putting down as damages, if they'd spent half of that securing their systems, they very probably wouldn't of had this happen in the first place.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for punishing illegal access to systems, but if you're going to leave the door open 70 years punishment is a joke, and persecuting him as an "enemy of the state"? Come on, get serious.

As for where it happens, I'm not overly concerned, as long as the guy get's a fair hearing, which to be honest, doesn't sound likely.

It'd be quite interesting to see the opinions on each side of the pond regarding this.

[Unconnected]

Wasnt the "hacking" he did something extremely simple? The NASA and US Navy are the idiots for making it even possible, they should be glad it was him who did it first and not someone who actually was one of their enemies.

[Subject Delta]

One more incident where it shows that the UK gov is the US's bitch.

Have to agree with you on this one. Our government caves into the Americans all the time, and this is just another case of that. The Americans can't hack being made to look silly, and want to come down on Gary with their usual iron fisted arrogance.

I would like to hope the EU can intervene in this one, he needs to be tried where he actually has a chance of a fair trial

[coresx]

He broke the law and should be punished but they must have some perspective. Use him to help point out flaws in the system and help fix them as part of his punishment. He shouldn't be put in jail for a long time if he didn't really do serious damage to national defence or steal highly sensitive material that could cause major security issues. He is not a Spy.

[thejohnnyq]

He committed the crime, and needs to be tried for it.

Just as in the days of old, it doesn't matter where the crime was committed, it matters against who. Pirates were often tried by the countries that they normally would attack. No different today.

If his sickness/illness is so bad, then maybe he should spend the rest of his life in a mental hospital, since he can help himself, or deal with the results from his actions.

[Shaun N.]

He logged onto some Government PC's which didn't have administrator passwords on, Installed a type of VNC program and browsed and downloaded pictures.

This is what he said he did, I havn't heard what the Governement said how he caused that amount of damage but it certainly wasn't sue to that.

I bet their IT dept took a beating after it was discovered they didn't even put passwords on the local administrator accounts.

I do agree that the UK are always bending over and taking it for the US

[jakem1]

Have to agree with you on this one. Our government caves into the Americans all the time, and this is just another case of that. The Americans can't hack being made to look silly, and want to come down on Gary with their usual iron fisted arrogance.

I would like to hope the EU can intervene in this one, he needs to be tried where he actually has a chance of a fair trial

The worst bit about this is that the treaty that McKinnon is being extradited under hasn't even been ratified by the Americans yet.