Judges block hacker Gary McKinnon's appeal

Computer hacker Gary McKinnon is set to go to European judges to fight his extradition to the United States after being refused permission today to appeal to the Supreme Court.

McKinnon, 43, is wanted in the US to stand trial for breaking into the Pentagon's military networks.

His lawyers argue he should be tried in Britain and fear the threat of prison in America would damage his health. McKinnon, who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, claims he was only searching for reports of UFO sightings.

But two High Court judges said his extradition was "a lawful and proportionate response" to his alleged offending. Lord Justice Stanley Burnton, sitting with Mr Justice Wilkie, said McKinnon's case did not raise "points of law of general public importance" which would justify a hearing before the Supreme Court.

McKinnon's lawyers said they would now consider applying to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Outside court, McKinnon's mother Janis Sharp said: "Gordon Brown and [Home Secretary] Alan Johnson should hang their heads in shame.

"No other country in the world would so readily offer its citizens to the US as sacrificial lambs merely to safeguard a so-called special political relationship. To use my desperately vulnerable son in this way is despicable, immoral and devoid of humanity." Ms Sharp said ministers could "redeem themselves by taking a brave and principled stand and intervene now before it's too late".

She accepted that "what Gary did was wrong but it was born of his compulsive and obsessive behaviour and does not justify extradition which would be a cruel and excessive punishment, particularly given his Asperger's".

She added: "I fought for five years to protect my son and I am not about to give up now."

Trudie Styler, who has campaigned for McKinnon, called for compassion. "Gary is a harmless, misguided and vulnerable man. Now is the time to put an end to his mental anguish and work with the US administration to prosecute him in this country."

Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer, QC, has refused to put him on trial here. McKinnon, of Wood Green, has argued that extradition would breach his right to a private and family life in contravention of Article Eight of the European Convention of Human Rights and Article Three by subjecting him to inhuman or degrading treatment.

Imprisonment in the US could lead to possible psychosis and suicide, the court has heard.