Father says son with autism accused of hacking  US government computers would be suicide risk if extradited

The vicar father of an autistic man accused of hacking into US government computers warned there was a “high probability” that he would kill himself if he is extradited to America.

Lauri Love, who has Asperger’s syndrome, is accused of stealing huge amounts of data from US agencies including the Federal Reserve, the Department of Defence, Nasa, and the FBI.

American authorities want the 31-year-old, who lives with his parents in Suffolk, to stand trial there over charges of cyber-hacking, which his lawyers say could lead to him spend up to 99 years in prison if he’s found guilty.

But his parents told an extradition hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court that their “exceptionally gifted” son has a long history of severe mental health and physical illnesses.

His mental health, combined with the deep stress of separation while waiting for trial and during a possible jail sentence, would be “highly likely” to result in his suicide, they said.

Rev Alexander Love, a prison chaplain who himself works with vulnerable people at risk of suicide, told the court that those he helps often see killing themselves as their only solution to a future they cannot see.

He said: “Lauri is somebody who strikes me as somebody who will do this. The probability is quite high.”

Rev Love said the “bitter experience” of leading funerals for people who had killed themselves led to the regret that everyone has, “that they didn’t see it coming”.

Pleading for his son not to be extradited, he said: “In Lauri’s case we do see it coming.”

The hearing continues.