An alleged British hacker has won a legal appeal against extradition to the US.
Lauri Love, 33, from Stradishall, Suffolk, was arrested back in 2013 under the Computer Misuse Act on suspicion of hacking the FBI, NASA, and the Federal Reserve, among other targets.
In September 2016 a judge at Westminster Magistrates' Court ruled that Love should be extradited to the US and two months later home secretary Amber Rudd signed the order, despite a letter from MPs sent to Barack Obama requesting he halt the process.
Love has Asperger’s syndrome and depression, and his lawyers argued that he was at “high risk” of killing himself if sent to the US to face charges.
He could face a sentence of up to 99 years behind bars if found guilty.
On Monday, judges at the High Court in London agreed, ruling that an extradition would be “oppressive by reason of his physical and mental condition.”
“We accept that the evidence shows that the fact of extradition would bring on severe depression, and that Mr Love would probably be determined to commit suicide, here or in America," they said, according to the BBC.
Lord chief justice Lord Burnett and Mr justice Ouseley apparently claimed that the CPS — which had been arguing for Love’s extradition — should now be working with the US authorities, because of the “gravity of the allegations in this case, and the harm done to the victims.”
Love is alleged to have stolen troves of data from various US agencies in 2012 and 2013.
His case is reminiscent of fellow Asperger’s sufferer Gary McKinnon, who fought a long and ultimately successful campaign against extradition to the US after then-home secretary Theresa May stepped in to claim such a move would be “incompatible with Mr McKinnon's human rights.”
Love’s ordeal is far from over, however, with the US authorities given a fortnight to request an appeal hearing at the UK Supreme Court.