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Extradition to United States for cybercrime trial not in the interests of justice

District Judge Fanning today refused a US government request for the extradition of Mr Christopher Taylor to stand trial in the state of Georgia for computer and wire fraud after allegedly hacking into and controlling hundreds of webcams.

The court discharged Mr Taylor from the US warrant on two separate grounds.

First the court upheld the ‘forum bar’, ruling that extradition to the United States was not in the interests of justice. The judge agreed that Mr. Taylor’s strong and enduring connections to the UK outweighed any public interest in his extradition and the USA would not be the appropriate forum to try the allegations, particularly where all of the alleged conduct had taken place in the UK.

Second, the judge found that extradition would be incompatible with Mr Taylor’s right to family life, under the Human Rights Act. The judge accepted that Mr Taylor’s devoted care for his wife, and the high probability that she may commit suicide in his absence, meant that his extradition would be a disproportionate interference with both of their Article 8 rights.

Further details of the case can be found here.

Ben Cooper QC was instructed by Chris Stevens of Sonn Macmillan Walker solicitors.