Attention: Please take a moment to consider our terms and conditions before posting.

Royal pardon for codebreaker Alan Turing

Finally. Shocking how one of the great British men of the 20th Century was treated.
Computer pioneer and codebreaker Alan Turing has been given a posthumous royal pardon.

It addresses his 1952 conviction for homosexuality for which he was punished by being chemically castrated.

The conviction meant he lost his security clearance and had to stop the code-cracking work that had proved vital to the Allies in World War Two.

The pardon was granted under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy after a request by Justice Minister Chris Grayling.

'Appalling' treatment
"Dr Alan Turing was an exceptional man with a brilliant mind," said Mr Grayling.

He said the research Turing carried out during the war at Bletchley Park undoubtedly shortened the conflict and saved thousands of lives.

2012 saw a series of events that celebrated the life and work of Alan Turing. The events were held to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth

Celebrating Turing
Turing's work helped accelerate Allied efforts to read German Naval messages enciphered with the Enigma machine. He also contributed some more fundamental work on codebreaking that was only released to public scrutiny in April 2012.

"His later life was overshadowed by his conviction for homosexual activity, a sentence we would now consider unjust and discriminatory and which has now been repealed," said Mr Grayling.

"Turing deserves to be remembered and recognised for his fantastic contribution to the war effort and his legacy to science. A pardon from the Queen is a fitting tribute to an exceptional man."

The pardon comes into effect on 24 December.

Turing died in June 1954 from cyanide poisoning and an inquest decided that he had committed suicide. However, biographers, friends and other students of his life dispute the finding and suggest his death was an accident.

Many people have campaigned for years to win a pardon for Turing.

'It's very wrong'
Lord Sharkey, a Liberal Democrat peer who wrote a private member's bill calling for a royal pardon in July 2012, said the decision was "wonderful news".

When we set out to try and make him famous - get him recognised - it was really difficult to collect money”

Glyn Hughes
Sculptor of Alan Turing Memorial
"This has demonstrated wisdom and compassion," he said. "It has recognised a very great British hero and made some amends for the cruelty and injustice with which Turing was treated."

Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said: "I pay tribute to the government for ensuring Alan Turing has a royal pardon at last but I do think it's very wrong that other men convicted of exactly the same offence are not even being given an apology, let alone a royal pardon.

"We're talking about at least 50,000 other men who were convicted of the same offence, of so-called gross indecency, which is simply a sexual act between men with consent."

Mr Tatchell said he would like to see Turing's death fully investigated.

"While I have no evidence that he was murdered, I do think we need to explore the possibility that he may have been killed by the security services. He was regarded as a high security risk," he said.

'Not entirely comfortable'
Glyn Hughes, the sculptor of the Alan Turing Memorial in Manchester, said it was "very gratifying" that he had finally been pardoned.

"When we set out to try and make him famous - get him recognised - it was really difficult to collect money," he said.

"None of the big computer companies would stump up a penny for a memorial. They perhaps would now - we've come a very long way."

But he said he was "not entirely comfortable" that Turing had been pardoned while thousands of other gay men had not.

"The problem is, of course, if there was a general pardon for men who had been prosecuted for homosexuality, many of them are still alive and they could get compensation."

In December 2011, an e-petition was created on the Direct Gov site that asked for Turing to be pardoned. It received more than 34,000 signatures but its request was denied by the then justice secretary, Lord McNally, who said Turing was "properly convicted" for what was at the time a criminal offence.

Prior to that in August 2009, a petition was started to request a pardon. It won an official apology from the prime minister at the time, Gordon Brown, who said the way Turing was persecuted over his homosexuality was "appalling".

Comments

  • About bloody time.
  • Makes me laugh when we get all high and mighty about what other countries should or shouldn't do, we've have had some pretty backwards thinking in recent times
  • One of the most shameful pieces of our recent history, far little far too late obviously. Possibly a silver lining is that history will remember Turing for what he was, a Great British hero and a genius.
  • Good news indeed, the man was a genius and his war work was vital to the survival of Britain.
    But like a lot geniuses he had many eccentric qualities. He was suspected of being a communist spy at a very tricky time of the cold war. The very paranoid British secret services hounded him, perhaps to his death. A very sad episode in our history
  • Anyone paid a visit to Bletchley Park?

    Missed the opportunity a few months back due to work commitments.
  • It is incredible to think that only a few years before I was born, men were chemically castrated for being homosexual.
  • I think this is great news, Turning ( and his team) was instrumental in shortening the war. However, as someone said on TV is he only being pardoned as he was so useful to our country what about other men who went through similar trauma just because they were gay. Bletchley well worth a visit, we went when we played MK dons.
  • Took long enough ...about time ... Turing has been incredibly influential.
  • kimbo said:

    I think this is great news, Turning ( and his team) was instrumental in shortening the war. However, as someone said on TV is he only being pardoned as he was so useful to our country what about other men who went through similar trauma just because they were gay. Bletchley well worth a visit, we went when we played MK dons.

    Compensation. Maybe when they are all dead.

  • shine166 said:

    Makes me laugh when we get all high and mighty about what other countries should or shouldn't do, we've have had some pretty backwards thinking in recent times

    We have, but we can't change the past, only improve the future.
  • Sponsored links:


  • Ultimately the persecution of homosexuals has to have been a contributing factor to his suicide, and his code breaking efforts were one of the biggest achievements that contributed to us winning WWII.

    A real hero.
Sign In or Register to comment.

Roland Out Forever!