McKinnon's mother 'devastated' by extradition decision (From Haringey Independent)

McKinnon's mother 'devastated' by extradition decision

10:08am Friday 27th November 2009

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THE distraught mother of computer hacker Gary McKinnon has described the Home Secretary's refusal to block his extradition as "incredibly cruel".

Janis Sharp said she was "devastated but not surprised" by Alan Johnson's decision, which dealt a severe blow to her son's hopes of escaping the United States penal system.

Mr Johnson told Mr McKinnon's family yesterday he believed the medical evidence was not strong enough for him to stop the move on human rights grounds.

Wood Green resident Mr McKinnon, 43, who has Asperger syndrome, is facing 60 years in prison if convicted of breaking into US military computers. He says he was seeking UFO evidence.

Mrs Sharp, 60, told the Haringey Independent: "I feel awful, completely devastated, but I wouldn't say I was surprised.

"I just hoped for good news for a change.

"Gary has lived in terror continually for the past eight years and he's taken the news very badly.

"He's very quiet and not saying anything, which is never a good sign."

Mr Johnson last month agreed to study new medical evidence before deciding on the extradition. The High Court had previously refused permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.

The Home Secretary said he had "received assurances" from the US that Mr McKinnon's health needs would be met. However, Mr McKinnon's solicitor, Karen Todner, has said the medical evidence shows it is "almost inevitable" he would commit suicide if extradited.

Ms Todner now has seven days to put a case for judicial review - something she said normally takes up to three months.

If that fails, she plans to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.

Mrs Sharp said: "You normally get three months for this, but we've only got a week. It's incredibly wrong.

"If we had a little longer, maybe we'd have a chance. To deny Gary this chance is incredibly cruel."

Mr McKinnon admits hacking into 97 US government computers, including Nasa's and Pentagon's, during 2001 and 2002.

He has said he was on a "moral crusade" to prove US intelligence had found an alien craft run on clean fuel.

Earlier this month, the Commons' Home Affairs Committee said his extradition should be halted owing to his "precarious state of mental health".

They concluded there was a "serious lack of equality" in the way the extradition treaty deals with UK citizens compared with US citizens.

Keith Vaz, chairman of the committee, said lawyers had told his committee that the Home Secretary did have the power to intervene. “I’m very disappointed with what the Home Secretary has done,” he said.

“We considered this very carefully. He must publish his legal advice now.”

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