Gary McKinnon, the Scots-born computer hacker who faces extradition to the US, was engaged in a �naive� search for the truth and should not be considered a criminal, according to a leading expert.
Gary McKinnon, the Scots-born computer hacker who faces extradition to the US for breaking into military networks, was engaged in a "naive" search for the truth resulting from his Asperger's syndrome and should not be considered a criminal, according to a leading expert.
Mr McKinnon's recent diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome - and an appeal to be prosecuted in the UK instead of the US - is the computer expert's last throw of the dice to avoid being extradited to the US, where his lawyers fear he will be made an example of for embarrassing the military establishment.
Mr McKinnon faces up to 70 years in prison if he is found guilty of gaining access to and damaging 97 American Navy, Army, Nasa and Pentagon computers in his claimed search for evidence of the existence of UFOs.
When Mr McKinnon, 42, broke into the systems from his London home in 2001 and 2002, he found they were not protected by passwords or firewalls. He was arrested in 2002 and has been resisting extradition to the US ever since.
He was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome last August after a viewer noticed his behaviour in a television interview. He was subsequently assessed as having the condition that exhibits itself in social naivety and a narrow interest, or even obsession, with particular subjects.
Yesterday, at a press conference held five days before his final legal appeal, Mr McKinnon said the legal process was having a hugely detrimental effect on his health.
"I'm on beta-blockers at the moment, I'm extremely stressed," he said. "I am very controlled, which is probably not a good thing, but inside the fires of hell are burning. It's not a good place to be."
Direct appeals to President George Bush and Justice Minister Jack Straw have been unsuccessful and Mr McKinnon remained pessimistic about his chances or that he could get fresh hope from a new US President.
Yesterday, Cambridge University professor Simon Baron-Cohen, a leading expert on Asperger's syndrome, said what Mr McKinnon did was "the activity of somebody with a disability rather than a criminal activity".
Describing people with the condition, Dr Baron-Cohen said: "It can bring a sort of tunnel vision so that in their pursuit of the truth they are blind to the social consequences for them or for other people."
Mr McKinnon's hopes now rest on an appeal for a judicial review of the Home Secretary's dismissal of the Asperger diagnosis as being a reason to prevent his extradition. The oral application for review is due to be heard next Tuesday, on the day President Elect Barack Obama is being sworn into office.
The Crown Prosecution Service is also considering a request from Mr McKinnon's lawyers in which they have said their client would plead guilty to an offence under the Misuse of Computers Act.
If Mr McKinnon were to be prosecuted and punished in Britain, it would make any extradition to the US unlikely.
