Wood Green hacker Gary McKinnon refuses more medical tests

by Stephen Moore Saturday, July 21, 2012
6:00 AM

Computer hacker Gary McKinnon has refused to undergo further medical tests by a Home Office-appointed expert as he fights extradition to the United States, his mother has said.

Janis Sharp said her son would not undergo a final psychiatric examination before the Home Secretary decides whether to order his extradition.

The case will return to London’s High Court on Tuesday “in anticipation of an imminent Home Office decision”, a family spokeswoman said.

Mr McKinnon, who admits hacking into American military computers from his girlfriend’s flat in Crouch End, is nearing the end of a 10-year legal battle against being extradited to the US, where he faces up to 60 years in jail if convicted.

Mr McKinnon, who suffers from Asperger syndrome, says he hacked into Pentagon and Nasa computers between February 2001 and March 2002 looking for evidence of UFOs.

At the last court hearing on July 5, judges were told Theresa May was “close” to making a decision.

But she was “personally concerned” that medical experts instructed by her department had not been permitted to carry out an examination to help her decide whether Mr McKinnon, from Wood Green, would be at high risk of committing suicide if removed.

Mr McKinnon’s supporters claim the Home Office-appointed expert, Prof Thomas Fahy, has no experience in uncovering suicidal tendencies in Asperger syndrome patients.

He has already been assessed on “at least six different occasions by six independent specialists”, they said.

Ms Sharp said: “Gary’s ordeal has gone on for far too long. The Home Office should accept the very clear and incontrovertible evidence provided by the country’s leading psychiatric experts in this field.

“It’s time to make the right decision and end Gary’s torment of extradition.

“When he’s fit and ready, as we have said all along, the CPS could try him in this country for his foolish acts that happened over a decade ago.”