DOCUMENTS from a Wilmslow-based national war hero’s trial at Knutsford’s Sessions House have been revealed in a public display for the first time.

Official court documents, detailing convictions faced by Alan Turing, Second World War code-breaker, are on display in Chester Town Hall until Sunday, October 9.

One of the documents shows the mathematician, who lived in Adlington Road in Wilmslow, admitting ‘acts of gross indecency’ for homosexual acts before being sentenced to chemical castration.

Turing’s conviction at the Knutsford court led to him losing security clearance and his invaluable work at Bletchley Park.

In 1954, aged 41, Turing committed suicide in Wilmslow, by ingesting cyanide and was found with a half-eaten apple by his side.

Val Bryant, director of Knutsford Heritage Centre, told the Guardian that the documents are an ‘important’ piece of the town’s history.

“These documents give a valuable insight into this man’s life,” she said. “It’s an important piece of history for Knutsford and it would be nice if the heritage centre could now have a copy also so that it could go into the town’s archives.”

In 2013, more than 60 years after the trial, Turing was given a posthumous royal pardon after an official apology by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, following a campaign led by former MP for Manchester Withington, John Leech.

The files have been warmly welcomed by Cllr Leech, who said: "I really hope this will go some way to highlighting just how absurd the conviction was, and how rightly deserved the pardon is.

"This is an important public service that I think will help generations to come understand the significance of Turing's life.

"It's a great contribution to LGBTQ+ history. I believe Alan Turing would be so proud to see how far society has moved on and how widely his work is now celebrated."

It is predicted that Turing's work saved the lives of an estimated 14 to 21 million, shortening the war by two to four years.

Following the success of John Leech's campaign to pardon Alan Turing, Cllr Leech turned to securing the pardon of more than 75,000 other men criminally convicted of sexuality.

The Government has also said proposals to pardon all gay men convicted under historical gross indecency laws would be brought forward in due course.