British Hijacker Loses Appeal
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
LONDON (AP) – A British man accused of hacking into American ,ilitary and NASA computer systems lost a High Court challenge Tuesday to avoid extradition to America.
Gary McKinnon, who was been indicted in New Jersy and northern Virginia, had claimed he could face prosecution under American anti-terror laws if sent to America.
His lawyer said he now would take the case to the House of Lords, Britain’s highest court of appeal.
Mr. McKinnon, 41, is accused of illegally accessing around 100 government computers between February 2001 and March 2002, causing around $700,000 in damages. It remains one of the largest cyber attacks on the American government.
A British judge ruled in May that Mr. McKinnon, who was arrested in 2002, should face trial in America. Home Secretary John Reid signed off on the request.
Mr. McKinnon said he accessed systems because he was looking for evidence that America was concealing the existence of UFOs.
District Judge Nicholas Evans, however, said Mr. McKinnon left notes on computer systems criticizing American foreign policy.
“U.S. foreign policy is akin to government-sponsored terrorism,” Evans quoted one such note as saying.
In one attack, which occurred immediately after Sept. 11, 2001, Mr. McKinnon targeted the Earle Naval Weapons Station in New Jersey.
