British Hacker Gary McKinnon will ‘almost certainly’ kill himself rather than be extradited to the US to stand trial, a psychiatrist said today.
McKinnon, who suffers from Asperger’s syndrome, has a ‘fixed-psychological conviction he will kill himself in preference to being extradited,’ according to consultant psychiatrist Professor Jeremy Turk of St George’s Hospital, London.
The hacker’s mother earlier slammed the UK Government for refusing to block McKinnon’s extradition to stand trial on human rights grounds, saying that Home Secretary Alan Johnson ‘should hang his head in shame’ for refusing the appeal.
McKinnon faces up to 60 years in jail for breaking into Pentagon and NASA computers while searching for evidence of alien landings. His legal team is now set to apply for a judicial review in a bid to stop the extradition. If a review is not granted, the hacker could face deportation before Christmas.
McKinnon’s lawyer, Karen Todner, said: “… we cannot give up because in some ways it’s like dealing with a Death Row case, and we genuinely believe that Gary’s life is at stake here.”
