Teen Hacking Suspect 'Has Asperger's'

A teenager accused of hacking into the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) has been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a court has heard.

Ryan Cleary, 19, was initially granted bail at City of Westminster Magistrates Court but prosecutors objected to his release.

The teen, from Wickford, Essex, will instead remain in police custody until Monday when an appeal will be heard at Southwark Crown Court.

During Saturday's proceedings, district judge Nicholas Evans heard a psychologist has diagnosed Cleary with Asperger's - a form of autism - since being in police custody.

The case draws parallels with that of Gary McKinnon, who also has the condition and is fighting extradition to America over allegations he hacked into US military computers.

Cleary did not enter any plea to the five offences he is charged with under the Criminal Law and Computer Misuse Act.

The teenager stood in the dock wearing a white T-shirt and dark trousers, listening to the strict conditions of his release, should it be granted on Monday.

They include not having access to the internet or any device that could access the web while living and sleeping at his family home in Essex.

The 19-year-old was arrested at home on June 20 as part of a Scotland Yard and FBI probe into LulzSec, a group that claims responsibility for hacking attempts on Soca, the US Senate and the CIA.

He is charged with conspiring with others on or before June 20 to create a remotely controlled network of zombie computers, known as a "botnet".

Its purpose is to carry out distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, where websites are flooded with traffic to make them crash.

It is alleged Cleary targeted the Soca website, as well as sites run by the British Phonographic Industry and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.

LulzSec has denied the teen is a member of their group.

Beyond his bail appeal on Monday, his case is also due for a plea and case management hearing on August 30.