THE US MILITARY believes it will soon get its hands on Gary McKinnon, the hapless British hacker who made a mockery of it while it was planning its invasion of Iraq in 2003. But it hadn't reckoned on Janis Sharp, Gary's mum.
Janis told the INQ she would chain herself and her son to a railing before she let anyone take him to stand trial in the US against hacking charges.
Listening to Janis on the INQ's podcast today, which records last Friday's protest at the UK's Home Office in support of Gary, it appears the US doesn't stand a chance in hell of getting McKinnon away from British soil involuntarily.
The US has effectively had permission to arrest Gary since last month, when the European Court of Human Rights threw out his appeal against his extradition order. But Gary's legal team may challenge the ECHR decision.
His team presented the court with evidence that he had Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism that might have explained how his obsession with UFOs led him to hack into computers belonging to various arms of the US military. They presented their evidence of his condition the day before the court made its decision to refuse him a hearing. They believe it may not have been taken into consideration, even though European law insisted it should be.
The same evidence has led the Home Office to reconsider Gary's case. It is expected to announce the outcome any day, though Gary's Mum has also been advised that the Republicans wouldn't allow his extradition before the US presidential election because it would put the spotlight on their bungled security. Gary also has none other than Cambridge University's Simon Baron Cohen, world renowned autism expert, supporting his case.
Even so, Lucy Clarke, Gary's girlfriend, told the INQ that her letters to the Home Office had been "ignored". She had heard "not a dicky bird" in reply to a letter she sent Home Secretary Jacqui Smith in August.
No-one at the Home Office should have trouble recalling Gary's case after Friday, when his Mum led a rigorous round of slogan chanting outside the Home Office on London's Marsham Street. Janis continued her lung-straining chants relentlessly, from moments after her arrival until the time the police had allotted for the demonstration's end, an hour later. She sounded like she would shout slogans at the Home Office all day if the police would let her.
"Why aren't they representing us?" she asked the INQ. "Why are they selling UK citizens down the pan?"
Gary has been fighting his extradition for six years. A group of up to 30 supporters waved placards with such slogans as, "Honey pot or honey trap, or is your security really crap", "Stop the USA bully", "We are the only country in Europe to sign the 2003 extradition treaty", "British justice sold to America", "When America prey on the weak, we pray for them", "Disability is not a crime", and "Uncle Sam vs Asperger Man".
Members of the Autistic Rights Movement rubbed shoulders with supporters wearing Guantanamo-orange jump suits.
No-one from the Home Office came out to meet the demonstrators. The press office told the INQ on the scene merely that Gary's case was being considered and a report would be made "in due course". That shows considerable progress from July, when the House of Lords, the UK's highest court, refused McKinnon sanctuary from extradition and Gary's family were advised that he could be taken at any time.
Hear Gary's friends and family talking about his life, his Asperger's and his cause on the INQ Spodcast from the demonstration.
