COMPUTER hacker Gary McKinnon is "unable to control the terror that consumes his every waking moment" as he fights extradition to the US, his mother has said.
Janis Sharp said the treatment of her son, who admits hacking into military computers but claims he was looking for evidence of UFOs, was "barbaric".
She met supporters, including Trudie Styler, actress and wife of pop star Sting, outside Number 10 Downing Street yesterday to hand over poems of support for her son to mark the 10th anniversary of his first arrest.
She urged Prime Minister David Cameron to raise the issue with US President Barack Obama when the leaders meet at the White House next month.
Ms Sharp said: "Ten years have gone by and still Gary lives in a nightmare world, unable to control the terror that consumes his every waking moment.
"This endless pressure on an Aspergic man with severe mental health issues is barbaric. And for what? A foolish act that caused embarrassment to the US. Where has our sense of proportion gone?
"He can't deal with it. It's ruined his life. His mental health has deteriorated and it's ruined our lives."
The High Court expressed concern over how long McKinnon's case was taking to return to court last month, with two judges listing the case for July in a bid to speed matters up.
They acted after hearing Home Secretary Theresa May is "considering afresh" whether Asperger's sufferer McKinnon, who is originally from Glasgow, should be extradited to the US to face trial for hacking into military computers in 2002.
She said: "In March, David Cameron is visiting President Obama to discuss our 'special relationship'.
"What an opportunity for our PM to finally announce an end to Gary's 10-year ordeal.
"This act alone would prove that the 'special relationship' has true meaning and is one of mutual respect."
McKinnon's legal team hopes Mrs May will block extradition amid predictions he could be jailed for 60 years in America.
Medical evidence shows the 45-year-old was "suffering from a serious mental disorder and there is a serious risk of suicide if extradited", his legal team has said.
McKinnon, from Wood Green, north London, admits hacking but claims he was looking for evidence of UFOs. Arrested in 2002, and then again in 2005, an order for his extradition was made in July 2006 under the 2003 Extradition Act. That triggered three applications for judicial review and questions about the fairness of the UK-US extradition treaty, which critics claim is "one-sided".
An independent review of the UK's extradition arrangements by Sir Scott Baker last year found the current treaty between the US and the UK was balanced and fair.
However, the Government is under pressure to ignore its findings after MPs called on ministers to bring forward new laws and attempt to change the extradition treaty.
In a House of Commons debate in December, Tory MP Dominic Raab said: "Gary McKinnon should not be treated like some gangland mobster or al Qaeda mastermind."
Many other figures in high-profile cases are also fighting extradition to the US, including student Richard O'Dwyer, who is accused of breaking American copyright laws.
Retired businessman Christopher Tappin, who is accused of conspiring to sell components for Iranian missiles, and Babar Ahmad, who is wanted for allegedly raising funds for Chechen and Afghan insurgents over the internet, are also fighting extradition.
Ms Sharp added: "My heart goes out to others in a similar situation including Chris Tappin, Richard O'Dwyer and Babar Ahmad and their families, who are themselves suffering at the hands of a discredited piece of legislation. I remain confident our Government will eventually do the right thing and amend our extradition laws."
Shami Chakrabarti, director of the civil rights group Liberty, was also at Downing Street. She said: "As Gary's ordeal continues so does the current rotten extradition regime. No-one is immune from unfair treatment and the lack of compassion in the system is already devastating too many lives.
"Liberty urges the Government to honour the promises of opposition and put a little commonsense and justice back into our extradition laws."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article