A BRITISH teenager suspected of masterminding a global computer hacking plot from his bedroom could face extradition to the US.

Ryan Cleary was arrested at his detached family home in Essex yesterday as part of a Scotland Yard and FBI probe into LulzSec, a group claiming responsibility for hacking attempts on the UK’s Serious Organised Crime Agency, the US Senate and the CIA.

Neighbours who witnessed the dawn police swoop spoke of their shock as the “very bright” 19-year-old university student was questioned.

Police believe Mr Cleary was a major player with LulzSec, which has also claimed security breaches at games firms Nintendo and Sony.

As US authorities were kept informed over the operation, lawyers said US prosecutors may demand he faces justice across the Atlantic.

Mark Spragg, an extradition lawyer at London-based firm Keystone Law, said: “If the charges on which he was arrested would result in a sentence in excess of 12 months, then potentially it would constitute an extradition offence.”

LulzSec is said to have established itself as a formidable splinter group to Anonymous, the hacking group embroiled in the WikiLeaks fallout.

The group was believed to have initially targeted US broadcasters, including PBS and Fox, and gaming firms.

But the Twitter page LulzSec recently declared its intention to break into government websites and leak confidential documents.

Neighbours of Mr Cleary’s family bungalow, in Wickford, described him as a “well presented young man”.

Dorothy Rounce said she was woken by banging from police officers arresting Mr Cleary in the early hours.

Her husband, James, said of the family: “They moved in about ten years ago and have been pleasant neighbours. I think he had been away at university and had come back for the holidays or because he had finished his exams.

“You could tell he was very bright just from the way he spoke and presented himself.

“I knew he was into computers because we would often take in parcels for him, and when I asked about them his mother said he was working from home and it was something to do with IT.”