Computer hacker Gary McKinnon, who broke into U.S. government computers in a quest for UFOs, will not face legal action in the U.K. following a decision by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). However, his U.S. extradition warrant remains open.
Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer QC ruled that the chances of a successful conviction were "not high". Bringing an end to a 10-year-long legal battle, CPS citied logistic difficulties, such as bringing over witnesses and evidence from the U.S., in pursuing the case in England and Wales.
In a statement, Mr. Starmer said, "The potential difficulties in bringing a case in England and Wales now should not be underestimated, not least the passage of time, the logistics of transferring sensitive evidence prepared for a court in the US to London for trial, the participation of US government witnesses in the trial and the need fully to comply with the duties of disclosure imposed on the CPS. The prospects of a conviction against Mr McKinnon which reflects the full extent of his alleged criminality are not high," the BCC reported.
The U.S. authorities began their efforts to extradite him in 2005; however, the bid was turned down by the Home Secretary Theresa May in October on human rights grounds after it was found that McKinnon suffered from Asperger's syndrome. She blocked the extradition fearing risk to life. The Home Secretary then referred the matter to the CPS to rule if he should be tried at home.
He has been fighting extradition for accessing nearly 100 Pentagon and NASA computers under the pseudonym "Solo," which allegedly caused $700,000 damage to U.S. military systems. McKinnon was facing up to 60 years in prison if found guilty of accessing the government computers. He admitted to intruding into the official U.S. computers, but maintained that he was looking for evidence of UFO activities.
