The Life & Conviction Of Alan Turing - Part 1

They Walk Among Us - UK True Crime

They Walk Among Us

True Crime

4.6 • 6.6K Ratings

🗓️ 28 February 2018

⏱️ 33 minutes

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Summary

Two police detectives arrived at Hollymeade, the home of a faculty member at Victoria University in Manchester. Alan, the occupant, had reported a burglary after a handful of trivial items had been stolen. The detectives did not dispute what Alan was telling them, and they believed the items were almost certainly taken. But they were not there to discuss a petty theft. They were there because while investigating the burglary, they uncovered evidence that led them to believe Alan was gay. In 1952, engaging in homosexual activity was illegal. Like many gay men at that time, he was arrested and faced charges of gross indecency, which could result in a prison sentence. At his trial, he pled guilty, was placed on probation, and made to undergo chemical castration, which would reduce his capacity to be sexually aroused. The hormonal treatment was gruelling and the side effects severe. The detectives who arrested Alan had taken his fingerprints and his photograph, but were unaware of the monumental impact he had on Britain during World War II. On the high end, some estimate the lives he saved at fourteen million, and his efforts were said to have shortened the war by two years. But two years after his conviction, Alan would be dead... (Part 1 of 2).

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This episode was researched and written by Benjamin Fitton.

Narration, audio editing and production direction also by Benjamin Fitton. Script editing, illustrations and production direction by Rosanna Fitton.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Season 2, Episode 19 of They Walk Among us, a podcast dedicated to UK true crime.
0:25.2	This is part one of a two-part story.
0:31.6	Listener caution is advised as this episode contains adult themes and descriptions that some listeners may find distressing.
0:47.2	Two police detectives arrived at Holly Mead, the home of a faculty member of Victoria University in Manchester.
0:53.7	Alan, the occupant, had reported a burglary after a handful of trivial items had been stolen. The detectives did not dispute
0:56.2	what Alan was telling them and they believed the items were almost certainly taken, but they
1:01.2	were not there to discuss a petty theft. They were there because while investigating the
1:06.5	burglary, they uncovered evidence that led them to believe Alan was gay. In 1952, engaging in homosexual activity was illegal.
1:16.6	Like many gay men at that time, he was arrested and faced charges of gross indecency which could result in a prison sentence.
1:24.6	At his trial, he pled guilty, was placed on probation and made to undergo chemical
1:30.2	castration which would reduce his capacity to be sexually aroused. The hormonal treatment was
1:36.6	gruelling and the side effects severe. The detectives who arrested Alan had taken his fingerprints
1:42.7	and his photograph but were unaware of the monumental impact he had on Britain during World War II.
1:49.0	On the high end, some estimate the lives he saved at 14 million, and his efforts were said to have shortened the war by two years.
1:57.0	But two years after his conviction, Alan would be dead.
2:20.2	Alan Matheson Turing was born on June 23, 1912, at Warrington Lodge, a nursing home on Warrington Crescent in London,
2:26.8	two years before the outbreak of the First World War. His father Julius Turing and mother Ethel had been living in India due to Julius's position with the Indian Civil Service, but decided
2:32.1	they wanted to raise their children in the United Kingdom
2:35.1	so relocated to London. Alan's father, Julius Turing, was born in November 1873. Julius spoke
2:44.5	little of his childhood struggles but he attended Corpus Christi College in Oxford before
2:49.5	joining the Indian Civil Service in 1896.
2:53.6	Over the next 11 years he worked as a tax collector and magistrate travelling by pony between
	...

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