The potential difficulties in bringing a case in England and Wales now should not be underestimated, not least the passage of time, the logistics of transferring sensitive evidence prepared for a court in the US to London for trial, the participation of US Government witnesses in the trial and the need to fully comply with the duties of disclosure imposed on the CPS. The prospects of a conviction against Mr McKinnon, which reflects the full extent of his alleged criminality, are not high.

In 2010 a member of the UK coalition government indicated that McKinnon's extradition to the US would be delayed [JURIST report]. May considered an adjournment request from McKinnon's legal team and agreed to delay a scheduled judicial review in order to determine if he was medically fit for extradition. McKinnon was nearly extradited in August 2008 when the European Court of Human Rights [official website] refused to reconsider the decision to send him to the US. British extradition arrangements, however, kept the case in judicial review for several years. McKinnon was arrested by British police in 2002 and again in 2005.