By Helen McArdle
A SCOTS
entrepreneur has pledged £100,000 to help finance the defence of Gary
McKinnon in the event he is extradited to the United States.
Edinburgh-based venture capital investor Luke Heron, right, is
calling on other Scottish businesses and the "celebrity bandwagon" to
help build up an emergency defence fund for the Glasgow-born computer
expert, who faces charges of hacking into 97 US military computers
between 2001 and 2002.
"I hope my money never needs to be used, I hope it never comes to
that," Heron, 30, told the Sunday Herald. "But the reality is McKinnon
now lost another appeal and people need to face up to the fact that
it's looking increasingly likely he's going to go over there and a US
legal case is going to cost in the millions."
McKinnon's plight has become something of a cause celebre in recent
years, with everyone from Boris Johnson to Terry Waite, Sting and Jane
Asher speaking out against moves to force the autistic Scot to stand
trial in the US.
On Friday, David Cameron described him as a "vulnerable young man",
whose case raised "serious questions about the workings of the
Extradition Act, which should be reviewed".
Heron said: "I just felt this was something tangible that I could do
It's very easy to join a list of people saying, This shouldn't happen',
but they have far more clout and far more money than I can ever dream
of having.
"The best thing that can happen for Gary is that the next chapter in
the media story needs to be about money. The US keep saying how much
damage he is supposed to have caused $700,000, which is about £418,000.
"If that is their biggest problem, I genuinely would write a cheque
for it now, if it would close the matter." A
one-time university dropout who puts his success down to "getting lucky
a couple of times", Heron was partly inspired to offer financial
backing to McKinnon based on his own experiences working with an
autistic boy during his eight months as a student in St Andrews.
While undertaking a course in
Medieval History at the university, he began volunteering and became
involved with a family in Cupar whose son had Asperger's syndrome – the
same condition that McKinnon was diagnosed with last year.
"One of the greatest regrets of my life is, firstly, cutting off my
university career, but also feeling that I had completely and utterly
let down their child, although they had many other people to help,"
said Heron.
"This is not about putting right a wrong, I think Gary's case is
completely unique, but that is my only connection, and an all too brief
involvement, with someone with autism."
McKinnon, 43, lost the latest in a long line of legal battles to prevent his
extradition to the US, when the High Court on Friday rejected calls for a
judicial review. Although his only contact with the McKinnon family so far has been via their lawyer, Heron is aware that
his message of support "has been passed on".
He hopes that the "ridiculous" situation might be averted if the US
authorities take into account the inevitable "media storm" that
McKinnon's extradition would spark – and is banking on a change of
heart under the Obama administration.
"The Extradition Treaty was never intended for this purpose," he
said. "I think the US has presented Gary as some terrible criminal who
is intent on bringing down the United States
military, which is just complete and utter fantasy."
http://www.sundayherald.com/news/heraldnews/display.var.2523452.0.0.php
But then again, if he hadn’t committed computer breaking and entering we wouldn’t be having this discussion, would we? Those Americans are a funny sort of people. For some reason they don’t like it when some asswipe breaks into their house, car, computer, etc. Maybe this “autistic computer expert” is the same shitbag that has written the viruses and malware that I’ve had to deal with. I hope they waterboard him to death.
Yeah kick a man when he is down ‘Zeeboo’–you who hide behind a silly name, and most likely wouldn’t say boo to a goose and conforms to all authority talls him to do
The fact is that gary is a folk hero. Using a pathetic computer he managed to confound the most powerful security in thw world, but NOT for any wrong reasons, but out of curiousity about the NOW very much talked about and some say know fact, that the powers that be over there are sitting on advanced technology that could liberate the WORLD!!
If you call that an ‘asswipe’ dude I would rather recommend you look at who is callin it. Ie., look in the mirror. Though I dont make a habit of calling other people that
Gary has more support than his critics ever will, they are jealous of his actual physical work and skills, let alone the truth Gary has exposed to the world along with hundreds of thousands of others before him.
The truth will come out one way or the other.
And anyone who wishes water-boarding on anyone else is a militant NAZI, plain and simple. They deserve to have whatever they wish upon someone else happen to themselves. Cosmic law comes swiftly to the obvious.
Purple Crow,
I will go with you as to what you said “The Truth will come out one way or another”.
And for sure it will, the rest of yo can’t prove no bludclat. Negative Minds never prosper always despair and you will never get anywhere seen??
Expand your minds “stop stayin in da box yo” and get a better positive life than you have now as its 2 short.
Gary mate am here to support yeah the way i can within the powers i have’ you are a smart man. Don’t let the system break you cos it’s all S@%T.
Let the War begin between Reality and False Reality that is made up by those who know as they are in the box.
watch out those who think they can control’ its almost dead and buried your system of false reality and manipulation. ” Time is over ” for the negative minded human souls and those others too they know who they are.
We do not fear you any more.