Gary McKinnon's extradition inevitable

ZDNet posted a video recording of Ms Todner's post-court comments on to its website yesterday, but since that recording Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary, has said he would be breaking the law if he blocked the extradition request.

The essence of the extradition request by the US government is that Mr McKinnon has caused widespread damage of US IT systems as a result of his systematic hacking of government and other agency computer systems over a lengthy period.

Writing in the Sunday Times, Mr Johnson, the Home Secrtary said: "It would be unlawful for the home secretary to intervene."

These comments, Infosecurity notes, follow on from Mr Johnson's earlier assertion that McKinnon's crimes are "far from trivial".

And this is the crux of the case. Legal experts that Infosecurity has spoken to informally all make the point that the evidence supporting the US extradition request would have been substantial enough to warrant his extradition even under the old US/UK rules.

Infosecurity understands it was hoped that the Crown Prosecution Service would revisit the extradition application that was approved by the previous Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith.

Sources suggest this has now been done and that legal experts have deemed the evidence sufficient to extradite Mr Gary McKinnon - whether under the old or the new extradition agreement rules.

So what happens now?

Sources suggest that Mr McKinnon will now stand trial in the US, and that the US government is well aware of the high public profile of the case.

As a result, whilst the evidence against Mr McKinnon is substantial and a guilty decision is likely, what is almost certain is that he will be returned to the UK following sentencing and allowed to serve his sentence in the UK.

Infosecurity's sources indicate that a custodial sentence - whilst almost certain - will be a lot less than some media sources have indicated.

The key to this, Infosecurity notes, is in Home Secretary Alan Johnson's Sunday Times article.

In his article, Mr Johnson acknowledged that it was "understandable" that many would be sympathetic to "someone who appears to be a misguided, vulnerable young man".

But Mr Johnson added that "the crimes he is accused of are far from trivial" and said Mr McKinnon "should be tried fairly for them in a court of law and in the country where the impact of those crimes were felt".

The Home Secretary has also denied that extradition law was wrong, arguing that it was appropriate for "an age where crime is increasingly indifferent to national borders".

Glasgow-born Gary McKinnon has admitted hacking by accessing at least 97 government computers belonging to organisations such as the US Navy and NASA - but denies it was malicious.

He has also denied the allegation he caused damage costing $800 000.

One legal professional that Infosecurity spoke to on condition of anonymity said that the damages figure involved in the case was difficult to believe.

"Any competent lawyer should be able to challenge this assertion in the US courts. Gary McKinnon's guilt is not at issue. What is at issue is the damage he caused and this is why it is likely his sentence is going to be a lot more lenient than prevously thought," he said.

 

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