Alan Turing was pardoned. Now his family are demanding justice for others

The family of real-life codebreaker Alan Turing are demanding justice for an estimated 49,000 men who, like the mathematician, were criminalised for their homosexuality.

Turing’s great-niece Rachel Barnes and her son Thomas delivered a Change.org petition signed by over half-a-million calling to Number 10 on Monday morning.

She told i100.co.uk they were looking for justice and hoped the Oscars success of The Imitation Game, the film about Turing's life, would highlight the cause:

This petition is extremely important for the whole Turing family. Alan was given the royal pardon in 2013 and we want justice for the other 49,000 who were convicted. It’s only fair and just that everyone receives the same pardon. We want equality for all

Of course it was an exciting weekend for us. The Imitation Game has been extremely helpful in highlighting Alan’s work and also his very tragic personal life. We are delighted that we won the Oscar for best screenplay and hopefully this will also help to highlight the petition for us.

• Rachel Barnes

Turing was convicted of “gross indecency” law in 1952 and suffered chemical castration as a "treatment" before being driven to an apparent suicide two years later. He was given posthumous royal pardon in 2013 but his family and campaigners want the same for other victims of old anti-gay laws.

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