The 23-year-old social media hacker who was arrested in Estepona will stand trial in the United States

British man who hacked the accounts of US presidents to be extradited from Spain

The 23-year-old social media hacker who was arrested in Estepona will stand trial in the United States

A young British man who is accused of hacking the Twitter accounts of US President Joe Biden, former president Barack Obama and other high-profile figures like Bill Gates has lost his battle against extradition in the Spanish courts.

23-year-old Joseph James O' Connor, known online as 'Plugwalk Joe', is originally from the UK but will be flown to the United States to face 14 different charges there, including illegal access to computer systems, computer fraud, money laundering and extortion.

O'Connor was arrested in July 2021 in the Andalucia municipality of Estepona and his lawyers have been fighting his extradition ever since, claiming that the length of sentence he will face in the US is disproportionate to his crimes. However, earlier this month, the Spanish courts explained that it is not their place to criticise the punishments doled out by America, and ruled that the young Briton should be tried there considering that is where the injured parties reside.

According to official reports, Plugwalk Joe participated in computer attacks on 130 Twitter accounts of prominent US personalities before his eventual arrest. He also stands accused of hacking the Snapchat account of a public figure, and threatening to publish nude photographs if he wasn't paid off.

The magistrates explain that, for this reason, among the charges is harassment "with intent to harm, harass and cause significant emotional distress to a person in another state" placing him "in a state of reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury."

While living in Spain the defendant was also involved in several incidents of 'swatting' - making false calls to the police and emergency services, which included a claim that a bomb had been planted in an airport.