8 Heinous Scottish Criminals - And Their Crimes
3. Gary McKinnon
It can very easily be argued that what Gary McKinnon did to make him a criminal is far less harmful than any of the other entries on this list. If you believe what the American military say about him, it could be said to be the most deadly.
McKinnon is a systems analyst and computer expert who was arrested for conducting the "largest military hack in history" against various US agencies. They say that he forcibly broke into their systems remotely and caused nearly half a million pounds worth of damage. His hacking affected NASA, the Navy and the Department of Defence.
He insists that while he did break into their systems, he caused no harm, deleted no files and didn't introduce anything malicious. All he was doing was looking for proof that UFOs existed. His sincere belief was that one of these agencies had the proof and was holding it from the public.
After being interviewed on television, an autism expert phoned his solicitor, recognising some strong indicators and McKinnon was diagnosed with Asperger's. In addition to this, the repeated attempts to extradite him to America where he could face up to 70 years in prison led him to develop severe anxiety and depression.
The extradition was blocked for good in 2012.