Computer hacker Gary McKinnon, who is wanted in the US, will not face charges in the UK, the Crown Prosecution Service has said.

Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer QC said the chances of a successful conviction were "not high".

He announced the decision some three months after Home Secretary Theresa May stopped the extradition.

Mr McKinnon, 46, admits accessing US government computers but says he was looking for evidence of UFOs.

The US authorities tried to extradite him to face charges of causing $800,000 (£487,000) to military computer systems and he would have faced up to 60 years in prison if convicted.

Mr McKinnon, who had been fighting extradition since 2002, suffers from Asperger's syndrome.

In October, the Briton was permitted to stay in the UK on human rights grounds after medical reports showed he was very likely to try to kill himself if extradited.

I'll have to read this in a bit more detail as to why the chances of conviction were 'not high". Seems a bit odd as I thought he'd admitted it all.

So a self confessed criminal walks free. Nice.

I guess people make a lot of allowances for people who are not normal.

good news, common sense prevails ...

people with that condition seem to get away with anything

A judge had ruled Ms Moran was unfit to stand trial for mental health reasons and could therefore not receive a criminal conviction.

I wonder how quickly she will make a miraculous recovery?

Where do I stand? Both should have stood trial for their crimes, and should serve whatever punishment is deemed fit.

Both should have stood trial for their crimes, and should serve whatever punishment is deemed fit.

I always find it suspicious that he was diagnosed with that condition after the extradition proceedings started. If it was that obvious that there was a problem with him beforehand, then why wasn’t he diagnosed with it then?

In this thread, people are casting diubt on a corrupt MP suddenly being unable to stand trial because of illness:
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=17839


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20725185

And this comment was made:


In other words - if an MP who fiddles the books is unfit to stand trial due to mental illness, then something is wrong, she’s on the fiddle, etc. and we should think Bad Things about her.

When a computer hacker, who has freely admitted to breaking into US computer systems for whatever spurious reasons sounds, is found to have mental problems after the fact, is judged to be unfit for trial, for some reason he’s a hero. Well, no. You can’t have one judgement for one and one for the other. Either BOTH McKinnon and Moran and trying it on and have got away with little more than a slap on the wrist, escaped justice and the consequences thereof, OR they are both equally innocent and their mental illnesses are to be seen as their fragility and they should be allowed to get off scot free with a hero’s send off.

Make your minds up. You can’t have it both ways.

Where do I stand? Both should have stood trial for their crimes, and should serve whatever punishment is deemed fit.

Saunders appealed against his sentence of five years in prison, and on 16 May 1991, the sentence was reduced to two and a half years. Lord Justice Neill said that he was satisfied that Saunders was suffering from pre-senile dementia associated with Alzheimer's disease, which is incurable.[3] With full parole, Saunders was released from Ford Open Prison on 28 June 1991 having served only ten months of his sentence. After his release, he recovered from the symptoms which had led to the diagnosis.[4]

I always find it suspicious that he was diagnosed with that condition after the extradition proceedings started.