BOSTON — A Massachusetts man fighting extradition to Scotland where he faces attempted murder charges for allegedly poisoning the wine of a fellow college student should not be sent overseas because he is mentally ill, his lawyer said.

Alexander Hilton, 22, of Princeton, Massachusetts, takes medications and is a suicide risk, attorney Monica Shah told the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston on Wednesday.

There is no guarantee that if he is taken into custody by U.S. or British authorities that he would continue to receive proper treatment, she said.

“It’s like pulling the pin from a grenade and waiting for it to explode,” she told the court, according to The Telegram & Gazette .

But the federal government could ensure he gets treatment, Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodore Heinrich countered.

Hilton was studying at the University of St. Andrews in 2011 when he spiked another American’s wine with wood alcohol, according to prosecutors.

Robert Forbes, of Virginia, would have died had he not gone to the hospital, according to prosecutors.

Hilton is free on bail in the care of his parents. The appeals court did not immediately rule.