MP calls for Scot who hacked Pentagon to be given job

Published on Wednesday 18 November 2009 23:29

COMPUTER hacker Gary McKinnon should be given a job rather than extradited to the United States, as his skills could be "put to good use".

That was the view of MP Keith Vaz, who heads the home affairs select committee. He said McKinnon showed intelligence "far beyond what anyone could imagine" when he hacked into US military networks.

Mr Vaz again urged Home Secretary Alan Johnson to let McKinnon stay in the UK and repeated calls for the UK-US extradition treaty to be reviewed. McKinnon, who was born in Glasgow, suffers from Asperger's syndrome – a form of autism – and faces the prospect of a lengthy prison term if he is sent to the US for trial.

During debate on the Queen's Speech, Mr Vaz said: "The Home Secretary is still considering Gary McKinnon's case. I hope very much that he will … allow Gary McKinnon to stay.

"Anyone who can hack into the computer system of the Pentagon should not actually be sent to trial – I believe he should be offered a job because if he was able to do that, he clearly has intelligence far beyond what anyone could imagine."

The Home Secretary is considering whether he can stop the extradition on the grounds that it would breach human rights law because of McKinnon's fragile mental state.

McKinnon, 43, from Wood Green, London, admits hacking in to secret Pentagon military networks, but says he was only looking for evidence of reports of UFO sightings.

Last month, he was refused permission to take his long- running legal battle to the Supreme Court, but it could still end up at the European Court of Human Rights.