Hacker condemned to US trial

12:38pm Thursday 28th August 2008

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A last-ditch attempt to avoid extradition to the US has ended in defeat for the Crouch End resident accused of "the biggest military hack in history".

The European Court of Human Rights ruled against an appeal by Gary McKinnon, 42, and he will be sent to the US for trial. He is accused of accessing and sabotaging top secret military computers more than 97 times between 2001 and 2002 using his home computer.

The US Government has warned that if McKinnon does not plead guilty, his case will be treated as terrorism which carries a jail sentence of up to 60 years.

His solicitor, Karen Todner said: "Our client now faces the prospect of prosecution and imprisonment thousands of miles away from his family in a country in which he has never set foot.

"The offences for which our client’s extradition is sought were committed on British soil and we maintain that any prosecution of our client ought therefore to be carried out by the appropriate British authorities."

She added that the case highlighted a "worrying trend" of UK citizens being left at the mercy of overseas prosecutors with no protection from the British government.

McKinnon was arrested in 2002 but never charged in the UK. In October 2004 the US government requested that British-born McKinnon be extradited to face the charges.

American officials claim McKinnon infiltrated systems at the Department of Defence, the US armed forces and NASA, causing $700,000 (£354,000) damage and threatening national security.

During interviews under caution, McKinnon admitted targeting high level US army, navy and air force computers, using the codename 'Solo'.

But the computer whizz has always maintained he was only looking for information on UFOs and aliens.

McKinnon’s solicitors plan to appeal to the Home Secretary to have the case heard in the UK after he was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome — a type of autism which affects social skills.