British teenager banned from America for life after sending Barack Obama abusive email

A British teenager has been banned from America for life for sending Barack Obama an abusive email, in which he calls the President a p***k.

Luke Angel, 17, insulted Mr Obama while drunk after watching a programme about the 9/11 attacks on the U.S.

Angel was reprimanded by police on both sides of the Atlantic after firing off the message to the White House.

Reprimand: Luke Angel, left, had his message to Mr Obama intercepted by the FBI



The FBI intercepted the message and contacted police in the UK who went to see Mr Angel at his home in Silsoe, Bedfordshire.

The college student is now on a list of people who are banned from visiting the States.

The teenager told the Bedfordshire On Sunday newspaper that he had sent the email after watching a TV programme about September 11.

When asked about the ban, Luke said: 'I don't really care. My parents aren't very happy about it.

'The police who came round took my picture and told me I was banned from America forever.'

A Bedfordshire Police spokesman said: 'The individual sent an email to the White House full of abusive and threatening language.

'We were informed by the Metropolitan Police and went to see him. He said, "Oh dear, it was me".'

Facing years in prison: Asperger's sufferer Gary McKinnon, 43, is accused of hacking into Nasa and Pentagon computers

Officers will take no criminal action.

This latest case comes a year after that of computer hacker Gary McKinnon, who is facing decades in a U.S. jail for crimes allegedly committed from his north London home.

The extradition of the Asperger's sufferer - who was searching for evidence of alien life when he hacked into NASA and Pentagon computers - brought a storm of protest.



A review of the Extradition Act - which governs arrangements between the U.S. and UK - was announced earlier this month by Home Secretary Theresa May.

The laws allow America and European Union countries to have British citizens arrested and sent for trial abroad - without presenting the level of evidence which would be needed for prosecution in the UK.

A judge will lead a panel examining whether the Extradition Act and European Arrest Warrant are being used to unfairly pursue Britons.

At the heart of the controversy is the fact the Act is 'lopsided' because British citizens are not given the same legal protection as Americans.



It comes against the backdrop of questions over Freedom of Speech in the U.S. - particularly in light of the row over the building of a mosque on the site if Ground Zero.