US hacking case Lauri Love released from bail

Lauri Love was arrested in Suffolk in October and had been on police bail ever since

A British man charged in the US with hacking into government computers, has been released from bail.

Lauri Love, 28, of Stradishall, Suffolk, is accused of breaking into US Federal Reserve computers and was arrested in Britain in October.

His lawyers said they wanted him charged here rather than in the US but the UK's National Crime Agency has released him from bail without charge.

His legal team has said it would oppose any extradition request.

A report from the US Department of Energy said personal information on 104,000 people had been taken and the estimated fallout costs were $3.7m (£2.2m), which included the cost of setting up a call centre to deal with people who were affected.

Mr Love had been on police bail in the UK since his arrest on suspicion of offences contrary to the UK's Computer Misuse Act 1990, which covers people launching attacks from within the UK against computers anywhere in the world.

US indictment

A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said: "The CPS provided investigative advice on the available evidence. The NCA then made the decision to release the man from bail."

After his arrest in the UK, Mr Love was charged by US authorities.

It is claimed the offences date from October 2012 to February 2013, when Mr Love allegedly tried to secretly infiltrate the New York Federal Reserve Bank's computer servers in order to steal non-public information and then post that information on certain websites.

He allegedly worked with "other hackers around the world to gain access".

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said he could face up to 12 years in prison if convicted in the United States.

Karen Todner, Mr Love's solicitor, told the BBC that though he had been released from bail it was still possible he could face prosecution in the UK.

• The story was changed on 6 August 2014 in the light of new information that although Mr Love had been released from bail he could still be prosecuted in the UK.