Alleged computer hacker ‘relieved’ as extradition blocked

Alleged computer hacker Lauri Love has described his relief after leading judges blocked his extradition to the US.

Speaking after a ruling by the High Court, the Asperger syndrome sufferer said: “I’m greatly relieved I am no longer facing the prospect of being locked up for potentially the rest of my life in a country I have never visited.”

Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett and Mr Justice Ouseley announced yesterday: “We have come to the conclusion that Mr Love’s extradition would be oppressive by reason of his physical and mental condition.”

Mr Love, 33, pictured, who lives with his parents near Newmarket in Suffolk, said afterwards: “If this precedent can avoid someone less fortunate having to go through this ordeal then that would make it all worthwhile.”

Blocking the extradition, the two judges said: “We emphasise however that it would not be oppressive to prosecute Mr Love in England for the offences alleged against him. Far from it.”

Lord Burnett and Mr Justice Ouseley said: “The CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) must now bend its endeavours to his prosecution, with the assistance to be expected from the authorities in the United States, recognising the gravity of the allegations in this case, and the harm done to the victims.”

The judges said that, if proven, “these are serious offences indeed”.

Mr Love’s QC, Edward Fitzgerald, had been “at pains to emphasise that Mr Love did not seek impunity for the acts alleged against him, but contended that he should be tried and, if convicted, sentenced in the United Kingdom”.

Authorities in America have been fighting for Mr Love to face trial on charges of cyber-hacking, which lawyers said could have meant a sentence of up to 99 years in prison if found guilty.

Mr Love is alleged to have stolen huge amounts of data from US agencies, including the Federal Reserve, the US army, the defence department, Nasa and the FBI in a spate of online attacks in 2012 and 2013.