Hacker Gary McKinnon to be extradited to the US
By Nicole Kobie,
Gary McKinnon is to be extradited to the US to face hacking chargers, after Home Secretary Alan Johnson refused to step in.
McKinnon has admitted hacking into NASA and Pentagon computers, but he and his supporters have argued he should not be extradited to the US because he suffers from Asperger's Syndrome.
Johnson has long said there is nothing he can do to prevent the extradition, but halted it temporarily to consider a new medical report into McKinnon's mental health.
Today, the home secretary in a letter said: "His extradition to the United States must proceed forthwith."
Johnson was quoted by the Telegraph newspaper as saying he had "carefully considered" the case, but didn't see that a report regarding McKinnon's mental health was "materially different" from that which was presented to the High Court previously this year and "does not demonstrate that sending Mr McKinnon to the United States would breach his human rights."
"If Mr McKinnon's human rights would be breached, I must stop the extradition," Johnson said. "If they would not be breached, the extradition must go ahead."
Johnson said his government had "sought and recieved assurances" from American authorities that McKinnon's medical needs would be met and would not serve his sentence in a "supermax" prison - those designed for the worst criminals who pose a threat to national security, such as terrorists.
"Finally, should Mr McKinnon be extradited, charged and convicted in the US and seek repatriation to the UK to serve a custodial sentence, the Government will of course progress his application at the very earliest opportunity," Johnson said.
Johnson added: "I know there is a concern on all sides to see a conclusion to these proceedings. It is now open to Mr McKinnon's lawyer to consider their legal options. As a consequence I do not propose to comment any further."
The concern isn't just to see a conclusion to the proceedings, however. Speaking to the Guardian newspaper, McKinnon's mother Janis Sharp said: "Gary is at risk of suicide, I'm extremely worried about him... This government is terrified of speaking up to America, and now they are allowing vulnerable people to be pursued for non-violent crime when they should be going after terrorists. Why are they doing this?"
Click here for our timeline of Gary McKinnon's case.
You may also like...
advertisement
Latest Industry & Public Sector Features
What impact will the browser ballot screen have?
The browser ballot screen is rolling out across Windows Update. Simon Brew charts its problems, the road to here, and what impact it’s likely to have.
- Q&A: Mark Kingdon on Second Life for business
- Q&A: The ID card commissioner talks cards and controversy
- The past, present and future of the Digital Economy Bill
- Google’s fight for its book deal
- MWC 2010: Top 10 show tech
- FreeBSD and the GPL
- Top 10 technologies for SMBs
- How much is space worth to Britain?
- Smartphones vs netbooks vs tablets - which is best for you?
Latest Industry & Public Sector Reviews
NEC MultiSync LCD4215 review
Rating: ![]()
advertisement
Most popular
- Your Views: Google Street View across the UK
- Reviews round-up: Windows Phone 7 and Firefox Mobile
- Q&A: Conrad Wolfram on communicating with apps in Web 3.0
- Why is Microsoft accelerating Service Pack 1?
- Palm 'disapointed' by results, Pre sales
- Google updates Chrome, awards security bonus
- Report: Macs cost less to run than Windows PCs
- A guide to BlackBerry Messenger 5.0
- Windows Phone 7 review ? hands on
- HTC Legend review
Latest News Videos in Industry & Public Sector
Video: What a connected classroom looks like
Dell unveils its vision for the classroom of the future, with netbooks, video conferencing and pub quiz-style handsets.
Whitepapers
Want more background on today's hottest IT trends?
Visit IT PRO's whitepaper library for more on virtualisation, encryption and other topics.
Register for IT PRO
You'll get exclusive member benefits including free whitepapers, downloads, Webinars and weekly newsletters full of the latest IT PRO news, reviews, insight and expertise.






bocacassidy
This case is clearly a brazen extra territorial extention of sovereignty by the American government .It is astounding that the UK would capitulate to this sort of intimidation by any foreign power . The USA should better hire some competent international experts to correct the security of its tin pot computer systems .
By bocacassidy on Sunday Nov 29
Hang you head in shame
I think this Alan Johnson should hang his head in shame. Funny if it'd be en in the UK he'd probably have been treated a 'little' more fairly but as we are the USA's 52nd state it's different. The man has showed flaws in the US security and for that instead of them solving the problem they treat him as some murderer! Shame on them and shame on the UK government for treating their subjects in this way. Obviously someone has been reading the KGB handbook?! Michael
By searcher_n3 on Tuesday Dec 8