The so-called ‘NASA hacker’ from North London, will be extradited to the US to face trial for his cybercrimes within two weeks, following the final decision made by the European courts.

Today's verdict comes six and a half years after McKinnon was originally arrested and follows an initial ruling by the British Home Secretary in 2006 that McKinnon should be extradited to the United States, and two subsequent rulings in favour of extradition by the UK Court of Appeal and the House of Lords.

McKinnon, a self-confessed computer enthusiast, was arrested six and a half years ago after allegedly hacking into computers belonging to the US Army, US Navy, US Air Force, Department of Defense and NASA.

He claims to have broken into these networks only to uncover confidential information about anti-gravity propulsion systems and extraterrestrial technology which he believed the authorities were hiding from the public.

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at security firm Sophos, said the US authorities will be “rubbing its hands together in glee” at the news that they are finally going to get their hands on McKinnon.

“They have sent a clear message that they are set on hunting down anyone who attempts to breach their computer systems and compromise their data, with McKinnon now facing the uncomfortable prospect of an American trial,” he said

“McKinnon has had tremendous support from the hacker community and even ordinary people throughout the duration of his trials, but this decision will still hit hard even after the many years of appeals.”