By Shahid Bux

In February 2008, five Muslim youths were acquitted of terrorism convictions after a ruling by judges that the collection and reading of radical Islamist material was not unlawful unless there was explicit evidence that this was to be employed to encourage violent activity. The men were originally prosecuted and convicted under Section 57 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which rules it an offence to be in possession of books or material thought useful to a terrorist. The conviction was later quashed when the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips said, "[Section 57] must be interpreted in a way that requires a direct connection between the object possessed and the act of terrorism." It was also announced by the Court of Appeal that the grounds on which the accused had been convicted were "unsound", and there was little basis for proving that material had been downloaded with the purpose of using it.[i]

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By Great North News staff reporter

It's a bad day for Gary McKinnon who today lost his battle in the European Court of Human Rights and faces extradition to the US in the next fortnight after allegedly hacking into dozens of US military computers looking for proof of extraterrestrial intelligence, or at least a CIA cover-up.

It is reported that he broke into the Pentagon's system from his London flat and left a message saying 'your security is crap.'

US officials allege that McKinnon caused around £354,000 worth of damage and severely threatened national security, rendering 200 computers unusable at a US navy weapons station immediately after 9/11. If extradited, he faces up to 70 years in prison and his lawyers have warned that he could even be given the death penalty. It is said that, using the codename Solo, McKinnon hacked into 97 US military and NASA computers.

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