Gary McKinnon UK legal meeting delayed

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has told V3 that a meeting scheduled to take place before the end of November to discuss the possibility of taking new action against alleged hacker Gary McKinnon has been postponed.

The CPS had originally said the meeting would take place at the end of November and would also involve representatives from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS).

However, the CPS confirmed to V3 on Thursday that no meeting had taken place.

"The meeting hasn't taken place yet and won't be this week," a spokesperson said.

The lawyer for McKinnon, Karen Todner, also confirmed to V3 she had not heard anything from the CPS on the meeting as yet.

The panel meeting will decide whether to pursue a new investigation into McKinnon's alleged activities, rather than issuing legal proceedings against him directly.

Nevertheless, Gary McKinnon's mother Janis Sharp, told V3 earlier this month that it would be "spectacular turnaround" if the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) were to bring charges against her son over alleged hacking of US government computers in 2002.

"The CPS refused us for 10 years as they said they were unable to prosecute Gary as they didn't have the evidence required," she said.

The delay comes in the same week that student Richard O'Dwyer signed a plea bargain with US authorities to avoid extradition over his TV Shack website.

This move was welcomed by campaigner and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, although he again raised his concerns with the legal systems being used to threaten people with extradition, despite the alleged crimes being committed in other nations.