HUMAN RIGHTS: Re: Peter Cotton’s letter in The Sentinel, January 13.
I agree with Mr Cotton that Gary McKinnon should not be sent to America. I recently spent a day with his mother Janis Sharp outside the Home Office to protest the extradition of Gary to the U.S.
Gary has Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of Autism, and was only looking for evidence of UFO’s when he hacked into the country’s systems using a blank password search. The U.S. says he caused $500,000 worth of damage, but this has never been proved.
Gary’s solicitor, Karen Todner, has been working hard for him and his family. The good news is they have now won a judicial review and a High Court judge will now rule whether it was wrong to allow extradition.
Gary is in a poor state of mental health because of the seven years of stress. The judicial review will now take place in May and this gives him extra time, and support. However, I would still urge people to text GARY to 65000 – an appeal set up by his mother.
It will now be left to the judge to rule whether Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary was right to decide that sending him to the U.S. for trial would breach his human rights.
KEVIN HEALEY
Staffordshire Adults Autistic Society campaigner,
Newcastle
