McKinnon a "suicide risk"

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 21 Jan 2009 at 10:03

Gary McKinnon would become a serious suicide risk if extradited to the US, the High Court has been told.

McKinnon was recently diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a type of autism in which the sufferer is driven to obsessive behaviour.

Edward Fitzgerald, McKinnon's QC, told the High Court that his client's condition could lead to a mental breakdown if he was removed from his family for a prolonged period. Ultimately, this could result in a suicide attempt, he argued.

The fact that he would likely be held in a US maximum security prison while awaiting trial would only increase his risk, Fitzgerald continued.

The QC also seized the opportunity to take Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to task for rubber-stamping the extradition, accusing her of using McKinnon "as a bargaining chip" and not making herself fully aware of the case's facts.

Fitzgerald was arguing for a judicial review of McKinnon's extradition order, claiming it violated Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guards against inhuman and degrading treatment.

The judges will now consider the case. However, McKinnon has already received a lifeline from the Home Office, which has promised to stay his extradition until the director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer, reviews the confession McKinnon sent him last month.

The confession is intended to secure McKinnon a UK trial, which would see him tried under the Computer Misuse Act for which sentences are not so strict as their US equivalent.

Starmer's decision is due towards the end of February, potentially granting McKinnon four weeks grace.

McKinnon is accused of hacking into 97 NASA and Pentagon systems, a crime that his lawyers claim could see him serve up to 70 years in a US prison.

His bid to avoid extradition has seen him take his case before the High Court, Law Lords and even the European Court of Human Rights.