The Home Secretary has halted Gary McKinnon’s extradition to consider new medical evidence about the computer hacker’s mental state.

Gary who is diagnosed with asperger’s had been told he could be sent to the U.S. – where he faces 60 years in jail for hacking into military computers – by the end of this month.

But in an unexpected move, Alan Johnson has stopped the extradition clock.

He has asked Home Office lawyers to consider the implications of fresh evidence about Mr McKinnon’s state of psychiatric health.

Mr McKinnon’s mother Janis Sharp has described the 43-year old as ‘broken and suicidal’ and experts have warned he could take his own life if extradited.

She is now pleased with Alan Johnson’s intervention and said yesterday: “I am sure that when he sees such strong evidence he will realise he should intervene and stop the extradition.

“Even at this late stage I hope when confronted with such compelling-evidence he will show the compassion that the people of this country are longing to see. Gary is pleased and relieved. It is the best news he has received for a long time and it gives him some hope.”

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said: “The Home Secretary has sat on his hands for too long, even in the face of legal advice from leading advocates that contradicts the Home Office’s position.

“This new psychiatric report into Gary McKinnon’s condition must persuade him that it is no longer acceptable to shrug his shoulders and claim that nothing can be done.  

“Alan Johnson should do the decent thing and intervene to ensure that Gary is tried in Britain, where he committed his crime and confessed to it.”

By halting the process, even temporarily, he appears to be conceding he is at least free to consider Mr McKinnon’s plight.

Campaigners will point to the fact that, if he could do nothing, there would be no reason to even study the latest 60-page medical report.

The Home Office may, however, be seeking simply to take all possible steps to avoid further legal challenges.

Rejecting the evidence outright could prompt a judicial review, or action by the European Court of Human Rights.

The consequences of Mr Johnson’s actions are that, at the very least, Mr McKinnon has been given more time to fight extradition.

A decision last Friday to bar the UFO fanatic from appealing to the Supreme Court left him with just 14 days to appeal to Europe, or face boarding a plane to the U.S. to face charges of hacking Nasa and Pentagon computers.

Mr Johnson’s lawyers say that, given the new evidence handed to the Home Office earlier this week, they consider that process to have been stopped.

The 14 days will not begin until Mr Johnson has reached a decision on the medical evidence. He is expected to receive advice from officials in the next few days.