Following a C4 drama-doc on the circumstances of the death of the great twentieth century mathematician Alan Turing – and timed to coincide with the centenary of the great man in 2012 – a new e-petition has been launched to grant him a posthumous pardon. A second e-petition has been launched to campaign for his face to be used on the new £10 note
The Channel 4 programme, Britain’s Greatest Code-breaker, aired on Monday November 21st, told Alan Turing’s life story mostly through a duologue with his psychiatrist, with whom he began therapy after his conviction. It accredits him with the invention of the modern computer and the invention of the machine that cracked the dreaded German Enigma code.
But it goes on to posit that Turing took his own life, not just because of the conviction and the effects of the ‘chemical castration’ therapy he had to undergo, but centrally because he was tipped over the edge by his sense of betrayal. Significantly, it shows his bitterness at his perception that the country he helped defeat Hitler ultimately treated him as Hitler might have done.
Gordon Brown hit the headlines and brought Turing to fame in September 2009 when he granted the great man a posthumous apology for the “appalling” way he had been treated in 1952, when he was prosecuted for indecency after privately having sex with a man in his own home. Turing made no secret of his sexual orientation and actually went to the police himself to report a burglary.
The e-petition seeks to pardon Turing on the basis that his conviction was for something that is no longer regarded as a crime. The Government has pledged to wipe the slate clean of criminal convictions for those prosecuted for indecency offences for having same sex relations under laws that have subsequently been repealed. This will mean that such convictions will no longer appear on CRB checks.
To sign the e-petition go here