British Prime Minister may intervene in case of hacker with Asperger's

From The Daily Mail in the UK:

Gordon Brown has given hope to Asperger's sufferer Gary McKinnon (pictured) in his battle to avoid extradition on computer hacking charges.

Breaking his silence on the case yesterday, the Prime Minister said he was 'sympathetic' to Mr McKinnon's plight.

Mr Brown said the 43-year-old's fight against extradition to the U.S., where he could face 60 years in a high-security prison, raised a 'number of issues'.

The High Court is due to rule next week on last-ditch appeals against decisions by the Home Office and the Director of Public Prosecutions to send him to the U.S. rather than putting him on trial in this country.

Mr McKinnon, who is being backed by a Daily Mail campaign, admits hacking into Nasa and Pentagon computers looking for evidence of UFOs and sources of 'free energy'.

The U.S. authorities claim he perpetrated 'the biggest military hack of all time' and that repairing the damage to their systems cost more than £436,000.

But experts have rubbished the claim and senior Labour, Tory and Liberal Democrat MPs have all insisted he should stand trial in Britain.

His family and lawyers argue that extradition will lead to 'disastrous consequences', including possible psychosis and suicide, because of his Asperger's, which is on the autistic spectrum.

There are also growing calls for a review of Britain's 'lopsided' extradition agreement with the U.S., which was chiefly designed to deal with terror suspects.

Asked if he was satisfied with the extradition treaty between the two countries, Mr Brown suggested it could be subject to review.

The Prime Minister said: 'I think you have always got to look at what arrangements you have and whether they are working'.

Mr Brown insisted the agreement had seen violent, drug and sex offenders brought back to Britain. But he added: 'The Gary McKinnon case raises a number of issues and anybody who looks at this must be sympathetic to someone who suffers from Asperger's syndrome.

'However there are court cases pending at the moment, one challenging the Director of Public Prosecutions for his judgment, and I think we have got to wait for the outcome of these court cases.'

Mr Brown said he did not believe voters would support a law giving the Government, rather than prosecutors, 'absolute discretion' over extradition.

Mr McKinnon's mother, Janis Sharp, said: 'I am extremely pleased that the Prime Minister is sympathetic but what we want to see is his Government stopping the extradition.

'It does provide us with a chink of light but we need actions as well as words. I want Mr Brown to stand up for the rights of British citizens.'

Mrs Sharp, who had an emotional private meeting with Mr Brown's wife Sarah earlier this month, added: 'Sarah Brown is a very intelligent, compassionate woman who genuinely cares.

'I hope that some of her compassion has opened his eyes and made him realise there is a real injustice here.' She insisted the Government had the power to halt the extradition and called on the Prime Minister and Home Secretary Alan Johnson to intervene, even at this late stage.

Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling said: 'If the Government is belatedly accepting the argument that things are not right, then that's very good news.

'I hope they really mean it and it's not just words. We want an extradition system that's fair to everyone involved and can respond to individual circumstances.'

The Extradition Act 2003 requires the U.S. to show only 'reasonable suspicion' to secure the extradition of a British citizen. British need a greater level of proof to bring an American to trial here.