As revelations from the Wikileaks files continue to pour out, it has emerged that Gordon Brown's attempts to raise the issue of Gary Mckinnon's extradition were repeatedly spurned by Washington.
The news comes from a secret cable from ambassador Louis Susman to US secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
Mr McKinnon, who suffers from Asperger's syndrome, is alleged to have hacked Pentagon networks in 2001, ostensibly to search for UFOs. He is currently awaiting a review into his case. American authorities want him extradited to the US, where he may face a 60-year prison sentence.
The leaked cable gives an account of Mr Brown's attempt to make an arrangement with Mr Susman to prevent the extradition. It read: "PM Brown, in a one-on-one meeting with the ambassador, proposed a deal: that McKinnon plead guilty, make a statement of contrition, but serve any sentence of incarceration in the UK.
"Brown cited deep public concern that McKinnon, with his medical condition, would commit suicide or suffer injury if imprisoned in a US facility."
It appears that although Mr Susman raised the issue with the US attorney general, the matter failed to gain any purchase at the highest echelons of the government in Washington.
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