Home Office delays McKinnon extradition

McKinnon's psychiatric health is now being reconsidered

Former hacker Gary McKinnon has had his extradition to the US put on hold again as new psychiatric evidence is considered.

McKinnon was denied permission to appeal to the Supreme Court against his trial being held in the US, and had 14 days to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

Reports on the BBC claim that the Home Office has now agreed to consider new evidence, and has put the 14-day deadline on hold.

McKinnon, who has Asperger's syndrome, could face decades in prison if found guilty of accessing US space agency and military computers in what he claims was a search for information on UFOs.

Karen Todner, McKinnon's lawyer, said she hoped that home secretary Alan Johnson would "show some compassion to someone who is extremely vulnerable".