children was physically hard, but emotionallyrewarding. There were many happy and many sad times, always interspersed with the worry of what might happen to Gary.
The night five-year-old Mae told me she had been abused in her home, I had to fight back the tears as I held her in my arms and tried to help her to make some sense of what had happened to her. This little girl felt guilty and confused because although she hated the man who had hurt her, she liked this same man when he was being kind to her. She also constantly worried about her mummy, whom she loved, and was frightened because mummy was left with ‘the monster’.
Mae asked me, ‘Are people here good?’
I said, ‘Well, lots of people who live in this area are really nice and are good people but you always have to be careful when you don’t know someone, as it takes time to get to know and trust people.’
She looked up at me with big blue eyes filled with tears and said, ‘Where we lived, the people were mostly bad but Mummy was good.’
Jay had no sympathy for the ‘bad man’ and wanted to become a superhero so that he could save his mummy and have the bad man locked up in prison forever.
These tiny children had more resilience than many adults. Despite all that they had gone through they started to blossom before our eyes – although only time will tell just how much emotional damage has been done.
Mae went to school and became one of the most popular girls in her class, and even directed her own plays. Because we had made an independent film she came to believe that she could do anything, and belief is everything.
As we were in a state of limbo, waiting to find out what was going to happen with Gary, having the children to care for helped me to stop permanently dwelling on the various scenarios that frequently popped into my head regarding Gary’s situation.
• • •
Gary was interviewed by the police for a second time on 8 August 2002. This time he had a lawyer representing him. Tamsin had researched various lawyers and told Gary that Kaim Todner seemed the best bet. Gary rang Karen Todner, the managing director, and said, ‘Do you do computer crime?’ ‘I could do,’ answered Karen, who from that day on represented Gary with a passion and perspicacity rarely seen in legal circles. However, at that point we were still hoping that this police interview would be the end of the matter, but instead he was bailed until 9 October 2002.
Between those dates I suddenly got another call I didn’t want to hear. The Crown Prosecution Service had told Karen that Gary didn’t have to answer bail in October after all, as the CPS no longer intended to prosecute him – but that America might be seeking to extradite.
‘Extradite!’ At that moment I was plunged into a state of terror. Real heart-stopping terror, the kind that makes you want to grab your possessions and bundle your family into the car and head for the hills.
The Hi-Tech Crime Unit, who had been monitoring his internet activity, had told Gary that he was looking at a UK sentence of six months’ community service for accessing Pentagon computers as he hadn’t damaged anything and hadn’t sent any malicious code, but now they were suddenly talking about America wanting to extradite! It didn’t make sense. Gary was confident that they wouldn’t be able to extradite him as he hadn’t caused any damage. I wasn’t. This was America we were dealing with.
In 2002, without prima facie evidence, i.e. evidence that can be contested in a UK court – and without proof of financial damage of at least $5,000 on each machine – extradition could not take place.As confirmed by the Crown Prosecution Service, no evidence was ever presented by the US to the CPS to support their allegations of damage. Hearsay does not constitute evidence and is inadmissible as such in British courts.
In November 2002 our worst fears were realised when the US called a worldwide press conference to announce
The night five-year-old Mae told me she had been abused in her home, I had to fight back the tears as I held her in my arms and tried to help her to make some sense of what had happened to her. This little girl felt guilty and confused because although she hated the man who had hurt her, she liked this same man when he was being kind to her. She also constantly worried about her mummy, whom she loved, and was frightened because mummy was left with ‘the monster’.
Mae asked me, ‘Are people here good?’
I said, ‘Well, lots of people who live in this area are really nice and are good people but you always have to be careful when you don’t know someone, as it takes time to get to know and trust people.’
She looked up at me with big blue eyes filled with tears and said, ‘Where we lived, the people were mostly bad but Mummy was good.’
Jay had no sympathy for the ‘bad man’ and wanted to become a superhero so that he could save his mummy and have the bad man locked up in prison forever.
These tiny children had more resilience than many adults. Despite all that they had gone through they started to blossom before our eyes – although only time will tell just how much emotional damage has been done.
Mae went to school and became one of the most popular girls in her class, and even directed her own plays. Because we had made an independent film she came to believe that she could do anything, and belief is everything.
As we were in a state of limbo, waiting to find out what was going to happen with Gary, having the children to care for helped me to stop permanently dwelling on the various scenarios that frequently popped into my head regarding Gary’s situation.
• • •
Gary was interviewed by the police for a second time on 8 August 2002. This time he had a lawyer representing him. Tamsin had researched various lawyers and told Gary that Kaim Todner seemed the best bet. Gary rang Karen Todner, the managing director, and said, ‘Do you do computer crime?’ ‘I could do,’ answered Karen, who from that day on represented Gary with a passion and perspicacity rarely seen in legal circles. However, at that point we were still hoping that this police interview would be the end of the matter, but instead he was bailed until 9 October 2002.
Between those dates I suddenly got another call I didn’t want to hear. The Crown Prosecution Service had told Karen that Gary didn’t have to answer bail in October after all, as the CPS no longer intended to prosecute him – but that America might be seeking to extradite.
‘Extradite!’ At that moment I was plunged into a state of terror. Real heart-stopping terror, the kind that makes you want to grab your possessions and bundle your family into the car and head for the hills.
The Hi-Tech Crime Unit, who had been monitoring his internet activity, had told Gary that he was looking at a UK sentence of six months’ community service for accessing Pentagon computers as he hadn’t damaged anything and hadn’t sent any malicious code, but now they were suddenly talking about America wanting to extradite! It didn’t make sense. Gary was confident that they wouldn’t be able to extradite him as he hadn’t caused any damage. I wasn’t. This was America we were dealing with.
In 2002, without prima facie evidence, i.e. evidence that can be contested in a UK court – and without proof of financial damage of at least $5,000 on each machine – extradition could not take place.As confirmed by the Crown Prosecution Service, no evidence was ever presented by the US to the CPS to support their allegations of damage. Hearsay does not constitute evidence and is inadmissible as such in British courts.
In November 2002 our worst fears were realised when the US called a worldwide press conference to announce
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