David Cameron has raised the prospect that computer hacker Gary McKinnon could serve some of any US-imposed sentence in a British jail after raising the issue with US President Barack Obama at the White House.
He said it was “one potential outcome” of senior-level talks between Britain and the US over the fate of Mr McKinnon, who broke into top secret US military computers.
The Prime Minister said that the Government had been working with the US ambassador on options “where perhaps some of the (sentence) if there is a prison sentence – is served in a British prison”.
“That is one potential outcome and I’ll be working very hard to make sure that these things are discussed between the two governments and if we can reach a settlement then all to the good. I don’t want to make a prediction because there are many difficult issues that have to be worked through.”
Both Mr Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg have publicly condemned plans to extradite Mr McKinnon to the US – where he faces up to 60 years in jail.
Read in Full:Â http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20100721/tuk-uk-hacker-could-serve-time-in-britis-dba1618.html
Gary McKinnon mother praises Cameron-Obama talks
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The mother of computer hacker Gary McKinnon says it is wonderful his case has been raised by the prime minister during talks with the US president.
David Cameron said Mr McKinnon was accused of a “significant crime” but he hoped for a “way through”.
Barack Obama said presidents did not get involved in extradition matters but he hoped for an appropriate solution.
Glasgow-born Mr McKinnon, who has Asperger’s syndrome, is accused of hacking US military computer systems.
Mr McKinnon, of Wood Green, north London, says he was seeking evidence of UFOs.
Both Mr Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg have publicly condemned plans to extradite Mr McKinnon to the US – where he faces up to 60 years in jail.
Last year Mr Cameron said that if Mr McKinnon, 43, had questions to answer there was “a clear argument to be made that he should answer them in a British court”.
‘Significant crime’
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live, Mr McKinnon’s mother Janis Sharp said: “It was incredible. I couldn’t believe it when I switched on television and saw Obama and David Cameron discussing Gary.
“With all the things like the BP crisis and everything, it was wonderful that he raised that with Obama, and that Obama smiled and at the end actually said that they’re hoping to find a way that is appropriate to get through this.”
Mr Cameron told the BBC work was already under way to reach a solution.
Read in Full(Includes Video): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10708517
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Obama says he can’t intervene in British hacker case
Jeremy Kirk
21.07.2010 kl 10:47 | IDG News ServiceLondon Bureau
President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that he can’t intervene in the long-running case of a British hacker charged with breaking into U.S. military computers.
President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that he can’t intervene in the long-running case of a British hacker charged with breaking into U.S. military computers.
Gary McKinnon’s case came up during discussions with British Prime Minister David Cameron in Washington.
The U.K. Home Office is reviewing whether McKinnon’s medical condition is grounds to block his extradition to the U.S., which was approved in 2006.
McKinnon has yet to stand trial in the U.S., where he was indicted by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in 2002 for hacking into 97 military and NASA computers between February 2001 and March 2002.
He has been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a neurological disorder related to autism characterized by deficiencies in social interaction. He would prefer to be prosecuted in the U.K., but the Crown Prosecution Service has turned down the case because the U.S. has jurisdiction.
Obama said during a news conference with Cameron that by tradition U.S. presidents do not get involved in extraditions or prosecutions and that his “team will follow the law.”
Read in Full:Â http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=F4AF728B-1A64-67EA-E44379944F51CAD4
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