In what may have been a last-ditch attempt at preventing the extradition of “UFO hacker” Gary McKinnon to the US, defense attourneys have claimed his recent diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome “would have profound implications for his mental health if he were put in a high-security US prison.”

“We’re upset and disappointed with the Home Secretary’s decision, as she has clearly not given proper consideration to Gary being diagnosed with Asperger’s,” McKinnon’s mother Janis told British news source The Guardian recently.

Asperger syndrome, which is sometimes called AS, Asperger’s syndrome or disorder, or simply Asperger’s, is a variation of autism spectrum disorder in which language and cognitive development aren’t delayed, and is “characterized by difficulties in social interaction and restricted, stereotyped patterns of behavior and interests” according to Wikipedia. Simon Baron-Cohen, a world-renowned expert on autism and professor of developmental psychopathology at Cambridge University, performed the assessments of McKinnon’s condition. The resulting evidence was then issued to Home Secretary Jacqui Smith by McKinnon’s legal team, but was subsequently rejected.  McKinnon’s attorneys had hoped for a judicial review of McKinnon’s extradition ruling by the House of Lords.

-Thanks to Marvin Bishop for contributing to this report. -