Getty Images / DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS / Contributor

The UK's High Court has ruled that accused British hacker Lauri Love should not be extradited to the US to face charges. In a central London court decision, the judges ruled Love should stay in the UK.

In their full judgement, the lord chief justice Ian Burnett and justice Duncan Ouseley discharged Love's order for extradition.


The judges ruled that Love's extradition would be "oppressive" due to his health conditions and it would be likely that he would be kept in solitary confinement in the US prison system. The new decision by the judges overrules Westminster Magistrates' court in late 2016, which said Love should go to the US.

Love, who lives near Newmarket, is accused of hacking US government bodies and intelligence agencies in 2012 and 2013. He could have faced up to 99 years in prison and a potential fine of up to $9 million (£6.3m) if he was extradited.

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However, Love lives with Asperger’s Syndrome and has a history of depression, and has argued his medical situation means he shouldn't be extradited to the US to face any potential trial. Love has publicly stated he would take his own life if he was forced to go abroad. His legal team has argued he should face trial in the UK instead of being extradited.

"The support of his family, in particular, would mean that he would be at far lower a risk of suicide," if he was to stay in the UK, the judges said. Their ruling continued to say that there is "no satisfactory and sufficiently specific evidence" that treatments would be available in the US for Love.


Despite the ruling, the judges said the UK's Crown Prosecution Service should "bend its endeavours" to prosecute Love over the charges he faces. Any potential prosecution should be done in accordance with US authorities. "If proven, these are serious offences indeed," the ruling says.

Police working for the National Crime Agency first arrested Love, in Suffolk, in 2013. He was not charged until 2015 when he was arrested on behalf of the US government and faced with the threat of extradition.

Upon hearing the decision campaign group Liberty said it is important that a vulnerable person like Love should face trial where a possible criminal offence was committed. "We are delighted that the court has today recognised Lauri’s vulnerability, close family connections to the UK and the potentially catastrophic consequences of extraditing him," Emma Norton the head of legal casework said.

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"This was always a case that could have been prosecuted here and it's shameful that Lauri and his family have been put through this terrible ordeal.”


After the ruling, Love spoke outside the court. "I'm very thankful for all of the support that we've had, without which I don't think I would have made it this far."

"This decision obviously affects my life but the reason I have gone through this ordeal is not to just to save myself from being kidnapped and locked up for 99 years in a country I have never visited," he said. "But it is to set a precedent whereby this will not happen to other people in the future, if there is suspected criminality then it will be trialled here in the UK. We're hopeful that other people may be able to rely on this verdict to ensure they're more humanely treated by the justice services."

Here's the background to Love's case.

What's he charged with?

It's alleged that Love was involved in #OpLastResort, run by hacking group Anonymous. The operation was a protest against the arrest of renowned programmer Aaron Swartz. (Swartz killed himself while facing charges in 2013).

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Between 2012 and 2013 it is said Love belong to an Anonymous group accused of hacking into Nasa, the FBI and US Federal Reserve. A 2014 FBI legal filing says Love is allegedly a "sophisticated hacker" who stole sensitive personal information and made it available online.

The FBI says an SQL injection was used to exploit vulnerabilities in Adobe ColdFusion and backdoors were inserted into the websites that could be exploited in the future. The website of the United States Sentencing Commission was also defaced and hosted a video created by Anonymous.

Love has neither confirmed or denied any role in Operation Last Resort, as The Guardian reported in September 2017.

Before this, in October 2013, the National Crime Agency arrested Love after pretending to deliver him a parcel at his parent's home. The body later issued legal proceedings telling Love to hand over passwords to his encrypted laptop but courts ruled this would not be legal and denied the NCA's request. No charges were brought by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

The legal arguments

The court case Love v Government of the United States of America – which is being ruled on today – was held in the Royal Courts of Justice in November last year. The appeal was took to court by Love after he lost a court case for extradition in 2016.

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In the case three months ago, Love's legal team, led by Edward Fitzgerald QC, argued that Love should not be tried in the US because of his medical conditions. "There’s a very real risk that he would commit suicide," The Guardian reported at the time. "There’s a virtual certainty that his condition would deteriorate."

It was argued the stress of being removed from his family and routine would exacerbate his conditions. Fitzgerald said the case against Love could be held in the UK and there would be a "real risk of inhuman treatment" against Love if he was sent to the US.

Judge Nina Tempia, at Westminster Magistrates' court, ruled in September 2016 (court documents) that Love should be extradited to the US. She said: there is a "strong public interest" in the UK upholding its extradition treaties with the US; the offences are serious; "millions of dollars' worth of damage" was caused by the hacks; that US officials say they can manage vulnerable people in their prison system.

However Tempia's ruling said Love is "at high risk of committing suicide" if extradited and he is "of good character" and is working and studying.

Ultimately, it was decided that he should be extradited as Tempia was "satisfied his needs will be comprehensively met by the US authorities". Two months later, in November 2016, home secretary Amber Rudd signed an order that Love should be extradited. His appeal was then launched.

The change in the law

Love's case has many similarities with that of hacker Gary McKinnon. In October 2012, Theresa May – the then home secretary – blocked the extradition of McKinnon to the US after a 10 year battle. He faced up to 60 years in US jail if convicted of hacking charges.


McKinnon, who has Asperger's syndrome and suffered with depression, was allowed to stay in the UK after it was found his condition would "give rise to such a high risk of him ending his life" that it would breach his human rights.

May also introduced a forum bar. "This will mean that where prosecution is possible in both the UK and in another state, the British courts will be able to bar prosecution overseas if they believe it is in the interests of justice to do so," she said at the time.

The forum bar exists under section 83A of the Extradition Act 20013. It allows judges to block extradition to the US and other countries if a crime was committed in the UK and if it is in the accused's interests to stand trial in the UK. Essentially, the addition to the law ensured that government ministers would not have to make any final decisions on an extradition case when it comes to human rights grounds. Speaking ahead of Love's trial one of his lawyers, Karen Todner, said if the forum bar is successful "the UK police will have a green light to take more prosecutions here and not bow to the US pressure to extradite".