Prime Minister issues Alan Turing apology

The Prime Minister has apologised for the treatment of mathematician and computer pioneer Alan Turing, praising his "contribution to humankind" and saying that he " deserved so much better".

Turing, who was gay, was convicted of Gross Indecency in 1952 and sentenced to "chemical castration" via injections of female hormones. He committed suicide two years later, aged 41.

In a statement, Mr Brown wrote that "While Turing was dealt with under the law of the time and we can’t put the clock back, his treatment was of course utterly unfair and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what happened to him."

The apology was prompted by a petition on the 10 Downing Street website which had gathered over 30,000 signatures.

John Graham-Cumming, who started the petition, said he was telephoned by the Prime Minister shortly before the apology was issued.

Mr Turing is considered by many to be the father of modern computer science, having invented both the concept of the Turing Machine and the Turing Test.

During the Second World War he worked at Bletchley Park, inventing the Bombe system used to break Axis messages encrypted using the Enigma machine.

Mr Brown's apology was widely welcomed. A spokesperson for the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexua and Transgender) rights charity Stonewall said: "The apology given regarding Alan Turing is welcome, but we shouldn’t forget that he was just one of thousands of gay men criminalised for being in love.

"Stonewall is regularly contacted by gay men experiencing difficulties applying for jobs because of convictions for an offence that no longer exists."