"A pervasive developmental disorder, Asperger syndrome is distinguished by a pattern of symptoms rather than a single symptom. It is characterized by qualitative impairment in social interaction, by stereotyped and restricted patterns of behavior, activities and interests, and by no clinically significant delay in cognitive development or general delay in language.[13] Intense preoccupation with a narrow subject, one-sided verbosity, restricted prosody, and physical clumsiness are typical of the condition, but are not required for diagnosis.[4]"

FROM WIKIPEDIA - but nothing there that makes someone do something they KNOW is wrong and would get fuckered for... sounds like really mild autism to me... certainly doesnt sound like a defence against hacking the US gov! i know they need hacking to save the rest of the world but be more careful eh matey!

Piss the yankies off a bit more in the hope of a more lenient sentence.........

Why not set up a set of gallows and get it over and done with here?

Paris cos she'd now what well hung means

in the UK, get tried in the US.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone have it right: Team America: World Police. And UK.gov is quite prepared to bend over and take it like the dick-sucking arse bandits they are... Gordon Brown is aptly named.

*sigh* time to look for a job abroad. Now where is there that will stand up to the US... AND wont be invaded because of it?

Sounds about right...

People using AS as an excuse for crimes. Sorry, but it's just not.

Leaving whether or not McKinnon has done anything that warrants extradition to the US^H^HGitmo aside, there's no reason why people should be able to use AS in mitigation. I've never met an autistic adult who's unable to differentiate between right and wrong (with the exception of some of those unable to live independently but that's clearly not the case here).

Every now and then, it comes up. Such and such isn't liable for their crimes because they have AS. Bollocks.

If any one wants me, I'll be in the Angry Dome. Grrrrr

</rant>

Isn't this a pending legal case; similar to the Jim Bates case - you know the one that for some reason El Reg decided not to allow comments due to the policy of not allowing comments on pending legal cases?

Are you going against policy because you are supporting McKinnon?

or

Are were you forced by a 3rd party to tone down your coverage of the Bates case?

"His family and supporters fear his fate could be far worse than this and that he might end up with a sentence of up to 60 years behind bars. "

Do they really? Or is it just a bit of spin? After all I think most people probably wouldn't offer up much sympathy were he to get ten years. However sixty years would be another matter, most people would sympathize with that.

Introduce people to this story with the official line of 8 to 10 years and their response will probably be "so what, he did the crime...". However give them the story with a sentence of 60 years and they will probably think that it's somewhat excessive.

What exactly is the argument against the extradition on the grounds of his suffering from Aspergers? They can no longer argue that he will not get a fair trial in the US based on the facts of the case, so are they claiming he will not get a fair trial in the US (or at least a less fair trial than he would in the UK) simply because he suffers from Aspergers?

... makes the message less clear.

80 people shouting "Keep McKinnon here!" is better than 200 shouting a muddle of "No More Iraq War!" "Better Disabled Access to High Street Banks!" and "Save the Whale!"

To me, this guy sounds like he's just trying to get out of being properly punished for commiting a crime...

Sure, hacking might not be the world's worst crime, but it's still wrong and the little weasel should have the decency to stop mucking around, admit that he did it and say sorry. If he'd done this instead of all the legal wrangling he's done, chances are half his sentance would have been done with by now!

"... and others, such as local Stop the War Groups."

Pardon me and all, but what the blue fuck has it got to do with them ?

As far as I can see, the US hasn't invaded Gary McKinnon [insert your own prison/bubba/ass gag here], they simply wish to extradite him for a crime. Which he admitted, lets not forget.

Yes, the terms of the extradition are arsewash, what with it's unilateral nature and USwards ass gash offering, but failing to make that the issue is going to cost this idiot dear.

Shit, the US will bomb children's playgrounds if they suspect that a terrorist might be lurking there, what the fuck effect do these morons think that pictures of McKinnons weeping family crying "please don't extradite our angel, he's just not right in the head" are going to have ?

@Liam

Spot on. And find me a decently skilled techie of any stripe who doesn't place somewhere on the spectrum during a proper diagnostic. Attempting to use Aspergers as a mitigation for committing crimes is essentially trying to cut a blanket exemption from legal responsibility for anyone who doesn't quite fit the social 'norm'. I for one do not welcome our slightly distracted looking overlords.

@AC

"After all I think most people probably wouldn't offer up much sympathy were he to get ten years."

Also spot on, stupid git should think himself bloody lucky if he only serves ten years, in whatever location. What did he think would happen if he got caught fiddling with kit that belongs to the US military. 'Being really fucking stupid' isn't a valid mitigation any more than Aspergers is.

Throw away the key, he's admitted to the crime, after all.

They should just force him to play a character in 24 for a season.

Seriously, Hacking? It shouldn't even be a crime.

So if someone who owns a hardware store, accidentally left the front door unlocked after closing, and I walked in, took some piccys while inside and left without disturbing anything big deal. That's basically what this guy did as I understand it. Sounds like a misdemeanor and certainly not worth extradition.

Paris, because she's done much worse then hacking but doesn't have legal problems.

"he's just trying to get out of being properly punished for commiting a crime" - first of all, this story is not about him trying to do anything, it's about his supporters trying to do something. Secondly, he's not trying to avoid being properly punished; his argument, and his supporters' argument, is that he's trying to get out of being improperly punished. He's not suggesting that he shouldn't be tried, just not by the Americans.

"hacking might not be the world's worst crime, but it's still wrong and the little weasel should have the decency to stop mucking around, admit that he did it and say sorry" Ye gods, where do you get your attitudes? Moral issues are rarely that simple - what about hacking to prevent a terrorist attack, or hacking to take out a child porn website? Still wrong? Perpetrators still weasels? I'm not saying what my opinion is here one way or the other, just trying to make the point that it's not quite as simple as you make out. Even though I expect he is guilty (as far as I know he's not denied breaking into the computers in question) I don't think that makes him a weasel necessarily. It depends on his reasons, and what harm he caused.

I really don't think saying he's sorry is going to help that much. We're talking about a state governed by people who have no respect for its constitution, far less for foreigners' rights.

The time/crime chanting brigade really piss me off. Nobody (reasonable) is suggesting that he shouldn't face justice. Just that he should get a fair trial, not be shipped to a state controlled by arseholes that support the use of torture. I mean, the one he's *in* is bad enough.

That's called tresspassing. In certain areas of the US, that'll get you shot. :-) And no, it wouldn't be the gov't doing it.