In the latest Gary Mckinnon news, Home secretary Theresa May has defied the US authorities by stopping hacker Gary Mckinnon’s extradition, which has come under severe criticism by the US state department, but lauded by the campaigners and politicians across parties in the UK.

Theresa May said, addressing the House of Commons, that she had taken the decision on human rights grounds because medical reports warned that 46-year-old Gary McKinnon, who has Asperger’s syndrome and suffers from depressive illness, could attempt suicide if he was extradited to the US.

Ironically, May’s decision was based on the Human Rights Act which she wanted to scrap, and this was not palatable to her critics. However, she countered them by stating that the future home secretaries would not be able to use the same power which she has used to save hacker Gary Mckinnon from extradition, as the plan to reform the extradition laws are very much in place.

Gary McKinnon’s mother, Janis Sharp, profusely thanked Theresa May for her efforts to stop Gary Mckinnon’s extradition and said that May had been “incredibly brave” to “stand up” to the Americans. Sharp said that she was overwhelmed after the “emotional rollercoaster” the family had been through in the past 10 years.

Gary McKinnon was first indicted by a grand jury in the US in November 2002 for hacking into US military computers, including the Pentagon and Nasa, from his north London bedroom while he was surfing for UFOs. Gary Mckinnon was at the brink of being sentenced up 70 years under US law.

This is the first time that an extradition has been stopped under the 2003 US-UK treaty, which prompted immediate delight from those who campaigned to halt Gary McKinnon’s extradition.

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