The sister of hacking suspect Lauri Love fears she will never see him again if he is handed to the US.

Natasha Love said her sibling will not survive jail if he is extradited and convicted of attacking websites including Nasa and the FBI.

Speaking for the first time, she said her ‘quirky’ brother – who has Asperger’s – should instead be hailed for his expertise in exposing weaknesses in cyber security.

In ‘another world’ the 32-year-old student would be honoured by the Queen rather than facing justice, said mother-of-one Miss Love.

Lauri Love is pictured with father Alexander and mother Sirkka (left). His sister Natasha (right) said her sibling will not survive jail if he is extradited and convicted of hacking offences

Her brother faces trial in three US states and a 99-year prison sentence if convicted. Experts warn that he will take his own life rather than go to America.

Miss Love, 30, says she is now struggling to cope with the idea of a future without him as she released touching pictures showing how close the pair were as children.

‘All I can do is hope that he wins because I can’t really think about the alternative,’ she said. ‘I absolutely believe that he would die if he was extradited. It would be the end of him.’

Miss Love implored Britain to keep one of its best brains rather than send him to the US where he is unlikely to survive the notoriously harsh American prison system.

‘The new danger to the world is cyber-attacks and terrorism and China and ISIS stealing from the US,’ she said. ‘They need people like Lauri.

‘He is a credit to Britain and should not be punished. These were problems that already existed that someone identified. Surely the US should thank people, not punish them.

Lauri Love, aged 6, with his sister Natasha, aged 4, in 1990

‘If you saw a broken window in a shop and pointed it out, should someone really charge you to fix it?’ She added: ‘Big corporations now offer a bounty for people who spot security flaws. Lauri would’ve been honoured with medals from the Queen in another world.’

The US requested the arrest of the vicar’s son in 2013. His legal team have requested leave to appeal. But if he loses Miss Love warned that her brother would not be able to cope with jail in the US because he cannot even feed himself when away from home.

Despite being extraordinarily bright, he is incapable of doing even the most basic things on his own. ‘He would call me up and say, “I’ve got some mince and it’s gone brown. Can I still eat it?”’ she said.The description is reminiscent of fellow Asperger’s computer hacker Gary McKinnon who would forget to eat, drink and clean himself when left alone.

He was saved after Theresa May, then the Home Secretary, intervened in his case following a Mail campaign. Miss Love now lives in Mantta, near Helsinki. Her mother, Sirkka, is Finnish and the siblings – who were ‘best friends’ as youngsters – have dual nationality.

‘But he always had quirks,’ she said. ‘He didn’t understand social norms. It was logical and common sense to him.

‘Lauri doesn’t think of the short-term consequences of his actions. He just wants to see what he can do with computers – to see where he can get with his skills. He does it because he can. Lauri doesn’t think he’s committed a crime. He doesn’t know right from wrong in the traditional sense.’

Natasha, aged 10, and Lauri, aged 12, play their recorders in 1996. Speaking for the first time, she said her ‘quirky’ brother – who has Asperger’s – should instead be hailed for his expertise

Among his quirks, Mr Love would create origami objects while appearing at court hearings. He carries speakers with him wherever he goes and carts them around using an old pram. ‘He calls it the techno trolley,’ said Miss Love. ‘He also has a cart he calls the jungle buggy.’

He also collects hats and wore a lab coat as a student so peers could write quotes on it. Sayings from philosophers would be written in Latin on his bedroom wall in permanent marker, but his greatest obsession has always been computers. Miss Love said she realised her brother was different as a child when he used an electronics set to make an alarm system for the house. He created his own computer game at the age of 14.

As a dual British-Finnish citizen, Mr Love was required to complete a year’s military service

At school in Suffolk, he would get into trouble for reprogramming computers and was once banned from the computer network.

As a dual British-Finnish citizen, Mr Love was required to complete a year’s military service. But he was unable to cope with being so far from home and he refused to return after a Christmas break in the UK.

He later studied physics and computing at the University of Glasgow, where he got involved in a protest about funding cuts.

‘He’d never really been involved in politics before, though he always had a keen sense of right and wrong,’ said Miss Love. ‘Sadly, he couldn’t hack it and had a breakdown and my parents had to fetch him from Glasgow.’

Soon after he returned home, he withdrew and devoted himself to his computer while he recovered.

‘He was spending a lot of time at home,’ said his sister. ‘He was very isolated. He had regular contact with the doctor about his mental health.’ The family say they had no idea Mr Love had Asperger’s until it was diagnosed following his arrest.

‘I was so used to Lauri being like that,’ said Miss Love. ‘I just thought boys couldn’t do things because my dad was the same. I was always in charge when mum was away because dad couldn’t even make toast. Dad has dyslexia. He had his IQ tested and it was stupidly high but he also has a lack of common sense.’