Man accused of Cyber-Hacking vow to Fight Barbaric US extradition

VICAR’S son accused of hacking into US Federal Reserve computers has vowed to fight "barbaric" attempts to extradite him to America "all the way".

Lauri Love, 31, who lives with his parents in Suffolk, will appear in court today accused of stealing massive quantities of data from Nasa and US government computers.

The American authorities want him to stand trial for cyber-hacking in the US where, according to his lawyers, he could spend up to 99 years in prison if found guilty.

Mr Love, who has been diagnosed with Aspergers and suffers from chronic eczema, says he will not go to America "under any condition whatsoever" and his father Alexander, who now works as a prison chaplain, fears his son will kill himself rather than be extradited.

Speaking ahead of the extradition hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court, Mr Love said: "I am hoping for a positive outcome but we will fight it all the way."

His case echoes that of Gary McKinnon, another alleged cyber-hacker with Aspergers who was eventually spared extradition after a decade-long battle when the Home Secretary intervened.

Mr Love said Theresa May should consider if she had a duty to intervene on his behalf too.

He said: "I would ask her if she feels she has an obligation and a duty of care to UK citizens to shield them from relatively barbaric treatment.

"I have not been accused of any violent offending but am facing potentially the rest of my life in a foreign prison where I have no friends and family. I think this is something to consider and try to avoid.

"We should assert the sovereignty of our legal system which actually gave birth to US law and we should consider ourselves intelligent and competent and capable enough to have our own legal system and not require the foreign powers step in."

Mr Love, an electrical engineering student at the University Campus Suffolk, said he has not been able to view any of the evidence against him.

All he wants, he says, is an opportunity to defend himself in a British court according to British laws and standards.

He said: "I haven't been afforded the opportunity to contest the allegations.
"I have not been charged. I've been indicted in America, the Americans don't give me any access to the evidence and I don't really intend to have a trial over there.

"I'm hoping after the extradition is refused there will be charged here in the UK and at that point I can actually formulate a defence."

Described by his father as a "brilliant" child who dazzled adults with his intelligence, Mr Love first got into computers when he was just seven.

By the time he was a teenager he was learning to code and hacking into and eventing levels on games he would play with his sister.
He said: "I was fond of an MSX computer which my parents had bought in Finland - they have a strong scene of video game sharing in Scandinavia so we came back with hundreds of floppy discs with hundreds of games and we played them and it was a lot of fun.

"And then at some point me and my sister figured out we could change the rules of some of the games - we could access the programme's code and then redefine it.

"You have the power not just to play by the rules, but if you worked a little harder you could be part of the rule making and creative process.

"It is empowering to access not just something someone else has made but to use this computer in a way that allows you to explore ideas and challenge it. It's like having a different kind of language, it is very rewarding and enriching."

Like many alleged cyber-hackers that have gone through the courts before him, he now wants to put his skills and knowledge to good use.

He has launched a start-up with a friend to advise clients how to beef up their cyber security and says he is working with the Royal Household to set up a cub-scout style educational programme which gives children badges for completing computer challenges.

As his father said, he "was the poacher who has become the game keeper".