More rightwing terrorist plotshave been prosecuted in theNorth East than in other areasof the UK, a spokeswoman forthe police’s North East regionalcounter-terrorism unit has toldThe Big Issue in the North.

Data released by the Leeds- based unit reveal that five menwith far-right links have beenconvicted on terror charges between 2007 and 2010 ininvestigations led by its officers.One, Martyn Gilleard, wassentenced to 16 years in prisonin 2008 after police foundexplosive devices andammunition at his home inGoole, together with a manifestodeclaring that the time hadcome to “blow up mosques.”Also that year, Nathan Worrellof Grimsby was sentenced to sixyears in prison after police

4 THE BIG ISSUE IN THE NORTH · 1-7 AUGUST 2011

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Not often do US officials payvisits to students in Sheffield.But after building a website thatallegedly shared links topirated TV shows and movies,23-year-old Richard O’Dwyer became a wanted man.

Accused of criminal copyrightinfringement, the SheffieldHallam Universityundergraduate finds himself atthe centre of an extraordinarystory. US authorities areattempting to extradite him sothat he can be tried andimprisoned in America.

The threat of extradition cameas a shock to the O’Dwyerfamily. Richard’s mother, Julia,has since been forced to takesick leave because of stress andnow spends her days trawlingthe internet to research the law.

Without evidence“The thought of having my onlyson taken thousands of milesaway to face an unknown legalsystem without being able tomonitor what is happening oradvocate for him fills me withterror,” she said recently.

Though O’Dwyer’s case isunusual, it is not isolated. Since

‘Disproportionate’ extradition of Shef 

2004, 28 British nationals have been extradited to the US, madepossible by a treaty signed in2003. Introduced to speed upthe extradition of terroristsuspects, the treaty wasnegotiated between the Blairand Bush administrations after9/11. It allows the US to requestextradition of UK citizenswithout evidence and on the basis of “reasonable suspicion”alone.

DisproportionateUsing the powers of the treaty togo after people for breachingcopyright and other crimes notassociated with terrorism, theO’Dwyer family believe, is anabuse of its purpose. Byallowing American authoritiesto seek extraditions on suchgrounds, they claim that the UKgovernment is failing to protectits citizens and that the treaty isimbalanced in America’s favour.

“If Richard has committed anycrime, it was committed on UKsoil, and we have sufficientcopyright legislation here so thathe can be prosecuted in the UK,”said a family spokesperson. “Toextradite a young man in the

middle of his studies is whollydisproportionate.“Since the Extradition Act cameinto force in 2004, the US hasagreed to the extradition to theUK of only three people with aclaim to US nationality. Sopresumably the US wouldunderstand if Britain wereequally as protective of its ownin preferring to try Britishdefendants in the UK. Just because an extradition request ismade, doesn’t mean that theauthorities have to agree to it.”

In the seven years since thetreaty came into force, theinternet has hugely expanded –and with it hacking, piracy andother cyber-crimes.

Scottish computer hackerGary McKinnon, who suffersfrom Asperger’s syndrome, has been fighting extradition to theUS since 2003. He admitshacking in to US governmentcomputer systems to findinformation about UFOs, butwants a UK trial. If extradited,he could face a prison sentenceof up to 70 years.

According to one of the UK’sleading experts on extraditionlaw, Julian Knowles QC, the

Right-wing terr

problem is that the extraditiontreaty does not contain aprovision – known as “forum” –allowing courts to decidewhether a case is best heard inthe UK or abroad. And becausethe internet has made it mucheasier for crime to be committedacross borders at a rapid pacethe law has failed to adapt.

“The law just doesn’t cater forthis situation,” Knowles said.“The Americans will go afterpeople who have committedcrimes abroad with very littlelinkage to the US. And theEnglish courts are powerless tosay: ‘Well, actually, the crimehas been committed here in theUK.’ It’s the absence of thatpower that I think is theproblem.

“What the McKinnon andO’Dwyer cases have indicated isthat there can be real injusticein sending people back to theUS to face very savage sentences– nothing like the sentence that

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