Politicians want McKinnon to serve time in UK

The home secretary has been given a petition to stop the extradition of accused computer hacker Gary McKinnon.

Senior politicians want the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, to acquire a guarantee by the US government that McKinnon will be allowed to serve any sentence in Britain.

The request was raised by shadow justice minister David Burrowes in the Commons and now has cross-party support. Former home secretary, David Blunkett, is supporting the request.

Burrowes, McKinnon's MP, said that there was an "accepted practice" the US followed for the Dutch and Israeli governments which required the US to repatriate anyone convicted of a crime that has special medical or mental health needs to their home country to serve their sentence. McKinnon has been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome.

McKinnon was accused by the US of "the biggest military hack of all time" in 2007, when he was accused of accessing Pentagon and NASA computers looking for evidence of UFOs. He has been trying to fight extradition to the US, but has already been denied by the High Court, Law Lords and European Court of Human Rights.