Writing Wrongs

VOTE FOR US IN THE TRUE CRIME AWARDS 2026!⁠

Production Team: Mark Round, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera, Karolina Placzynta

Sound: Mark Round

Visual design: George Grant

Editing: Nicci MacLeod

Additional voices: Professor Siddhartha Bandyopadhyay, George Grant, Stephany Grant, Dr Graeme Hayes, Greg Fraser McLaren

Professor Tim Grant’s home page: Tim Grant - Aston Research Explorer

Dr Nicci MacLeod’s home page: Nicci MacLeod - Aston Research Explorer

Professor Jessica Woodham’s home page: Professor Jessica Woodhams - School of Psychology - University of Birmingham

Research Resources

Academic Sources

Andrew, C. (2012). The defence of the realm: The authorized history of MI5. Penguin UK.

Carlisle, D. (2007) Dhiren Barot: Was He an Al Qaeda Mastermind or Merely a Hapless Plotter? Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 30:1057–1071 DOI: 10.1080/10576100701670979

Grant, T.D. (2022) The Idea of Progress in Forensic Authorship Analysis CUP

Sean O’Neill and Daniel McGrory, The Suicide Factory: Abu Hamza and the Finsbury Park Mosque (London: Harper Perennial, 2006)

News sources

Guardian 2006 https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/nov/07/usa.terrorism

Times of India 2006 https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/articleshow/2168783.cms

Other Web sources

US Government 9/11 Commission Report https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-911REPORT/pdf/GPO-911REPORT.pdf

House of Commons library on pretrial detention of terrorists - https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn05634/

Series 3 - Episode 1 - Part 1- Dhiren Barot: Al Qaeda's al-Hindi

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Release date: 1 May 2026

⁠*Warning: this episode contains descriptions of terrorist mass-casualty events, and torture *⁠

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These two episodes are dedicated to the memory of Dr Janet Cotterill (1968-2022) who contributed significantly to this case and to forensic linguistics more generally. Her obituary can be found here ⁠https://iafll.org/2022/11/11/remembering-dr-janet-cotterill-1968-2022/⁠

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August 2004. Dhiren Barot, a high-value terrorist, has been arrested in London, and police need to charge or release him within four days. To charge Barot, the police needed to prove to a criminal standard that he had indeed written the Gas Limos project, a document that contained the plot to attack underground carparks of landmark tourist destinations across London with multiple limousines filled with gas cylinders containing explosive gases.

In this first part, we explore Barot’s story and background. How did he get from an average upbringing in an Indian family in North London to becoming a radical Islamist authoring a plan for mass destruction?

Episode Resources

Have a question for Nicci or Tim? Email us at ⁠writingwrongs@aston.ac.uk⁠ and we may answer it during an upcoming episode!

Check out the official AIFL blog for more forensic linguistic goodies here: ⁠https://medium.com/@AIFLblog⁠

If you have been affected by any of the themes in this week’s episode, please contact one of these free sources:

⁠https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/⁠

⁠https://www.helpguide.org/find-help⁠

Production

Production Team: Mark Round, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera, Karolina Placzynta

Sound: Mark Round

Visual design: George Grant

Editing: Nicci MacLeod

Additional voices: Professor Siddhartha Bandyopadhyay, George Grant, Dr Graeme Hayes, Dr Madison Hunter, Aymun Yasin Khan

Professor Tim Grant’s home page: ⁠Tim Grant - Aston Research Explorer⁠

Dr Nicci MacLeod’s home page: ⁠Nicci MacLeod - Aston Research Explorer⁠

Research Resources

Academic Sources

- Andrew, C. (2012). The defence of the realm: The authorized history of MI5. Penguin UK.

- Carlisle, D. (2007) Dhiren Barot: Was He an Al Qaeda Mastermind or Merely a Hapless Plotter? Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 30:1057–1071 DOI: 10.1080/10576100701670979

- Grant, T.D. (2022) The Idea of Progress in Forensic Authorship Analysis CUP

- Sean O’Neill and Daniel McGrory, The Suicide Factory: Abu Hamza and the Finsbury Park Mosque(London: Harper Perennial, 2006)

News sources

- Guardian 2006 ⁠https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/nov/07/usa.terrorism⁠

- Times of India 2006 - ⁠https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/articleshow/2168783.cms⁠

Other Web sources

- US Government 9/11 Commission Report ⁠https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-911REPORT/pdf/GPO-911REPORT.pdf⁠

- House of Commons library on pretrial detention of terrorists - ⁠https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn05634/⁠

Series 2 - Post-script - Writing Wrongs Meets CorpusCast

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Release date: 2 April 2026

* Warning: Today’s episode contains descriptions of wrongful conviction, terrorism, and rape. *

Welcome Wrong’uns to this special episode of Writing Wrongs in conjunction with another Aston Originals podcast: CorpusCast with Dr Robbie Love! Nicci, Tim, and Robbie revisit some of Writing Wrongs’ best clips involving corpus linguistics. Take a trip down memory lane as our hosts call back to S1E3, S1E7, S2E1&2, and S2E6&7, and grill Dr Love about the ins and outs of the use of corpus methods in forensic linguistics.

Please take a listen to the CorpusCast back catalogue here or anywhere else you listen to podcasts.

CorpusCast is the podcast about corpus linguistics and what it can do for society. Join Dr Robbie Love as he speaks with top researchers in the field to find out more about how corpus linguistics – the study of linguistic patterns in large samples of language – is applied in a diverse range of contexts including education, health and technology. CorpusCast is an official Aston University podcast, part of the Aston Originals series.

VOTE FOR US IN THE TRUE CRIME AWARDS 2026!

Erratum: Robbie's upcoming performance of We Will Rock You is at the Alexandra Theatre, not the Hippodrome as Nicci mistakenly says. Tickets available ⁠here.⁠

Episode Resources

Have a question for Nicci or Tim? Email us at writingwrongs@aston.ac.uk and we may answer it during an upcoming episode! 

Check out the official AIFL blog for more forensic linguistic goodies here: https://medium.com/@AIFLblog  

If you have been affected by any of the themes in this week’s episode, please contact one of these free sources: 

https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/  

https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/  

Production Team: Mark Round, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera, Karolina Placzynta 

Sound: Mark Round

Visual design: George Grant 

Professor Tim Grant’s home page: Tim Grant - Aston Research Explorer 

Dr Nicci MacLeod’s home page: Nicci MacLeod - Aston Research Explorer 

Dr Robbie Love’s home page: Dr Love's Website; Robbie Love - Aston Researcher Explorer

Series 2 - Episode 8 - Questions and Answers

Release date: 6 March 2026

*Warning: this episode contains potentially distressing discussions*

In the series finale, Nicci and Tim will be answering some of the questions that you have been sending in over the course of series 2. From general questions about forensic linguistics to a deep dive into past episodes, including questions from audience members at our special live show, we will be reviewing what series 2 has been about.

Episode Resources

Have a question for Nicci or Tim? Email us at writingwrongs@aston.ac.uk and we may answer it during an upcoming episode! 

Check out the official AIFL blog for more forensic linguistic goodies here: https://medium.com/@AIFLblog  

If you have been affected by any of the themes in this week’s episode, please contact one of these free sources: 

https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/  

Production Team: Mark Round, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera, Karolina Placzynta 

Sound: Mark Round

Visual design: George Grant 

Professor Tim Grant’s home page: Tim Grant - Aston Research Explorer 

Dr Nicci MacLeod’s home page: Nicci MacLeod - Aston Research Explorer 

Series 2 - Episode 7 - 'Slang' on Trial - Part 2 - My Killy and Other Friends

Release date: 6 February 2026

* Warning: Today’s episode contains descriptions of murder, gang violence, and knife crime. *

 STOP! This episode is the final part of a special two-part episode. Make sure to listen to part one before enjoying this episode.

In part two of this special on Urban British English (UBE), Dr Nicci MacLeod and Professor Tim Grant discuss Nicci’s role in a 2021 murder case involving the suspect’s use of the term ‘killy’. Despite the prosecution’s expert defining the term as “the feeling of wanting to kill,” Nicci’s deep dive revealed a more common meaning of the term: ‘close friend’.

Episode Resources

Have a question for Nicci or Tim? Email us at writingwrongs@aston.ac.uk and we may answer it during an upcoming episode! 

Check out the official AIFL blog for more forensic linguistic goodies here: https://medium.com/@AIFLblog  

If you have been affected by any of the themes in this week’s episode, please contact one of these free sources: 

⁠https://medium.com/@AIFLblog⁠

Production Team: Mark Round, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera, Karolina Placzynta 

Sound: Mark Round, Sam Cook 

Visual design: George Grant 

Additional Voices: Frankie Vu, Aston Students

Professor Tim Grant’s home page: Tim Grant - Aston Research Explorer 

Dr Nicci MacLeod’s home page: Nicci MacLeod - Aston Research Explorer 

Johnathon Green’s Dictionary of Slang: https://greensdictofslang.com/  

Linguistic experts as semantic tour guides by Dr Larry Solan: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/250014956_Linguistic_experts_as_semantic_tour_guides  

Series 2 - Episode 7 - 'Slang' on Trial - Part 1: Duppying Yoots

Release date: 6 February 2026

* Warning: Today’s episode contains descriptions of murder, gang violence, knife crime, and a violent attack on a young pregnant girl. *

This month, Dr Nicci MacLeod and Professor Tim Grant explore the analysis of Urban British English (UBE) in court. In the first of this two-part episode, Tim discusses a case from 2009 in which he analysed chat logs between two Grime music producers, Maniac and Snoopy Montana, who were accused of conspiracy to murder Maniac’s pregnant girlfriend. Tim drew on corpus linguistics to explore the non-standard variety of English the two used in correspondence with one another to better guide the court on the meaning of the language present in the data.

Episode Resources

Have a question for Nicci or Tim? Email us at ⁠writingwrongs@aston.ac.uk⁠ and wemay answer it during an upcoming episode!

Check out the official AIFL blog for more forensiclinguistic goodies here:

If you have been affected by any of the themes in thisweek’s episode, please contact one of these free sources:

⁠https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/⁠

⁠https://www.helpguide.org/find-help⁠

Professor Tim Grant’s home page

Dr Nicci MacLeod’s home page

Production Team: Mark Round, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera, Karolina Placzynta

Sound: Mark Round, Sam Cook

Visual design: George Grant

Additional Voices: ⁠Frankie Vu⁠, Aston students

Series 2 - Episode 6 – Toxic Texts from the Tees Valley

* Warning: Today’s episode contains descriptions of harassment and stalking. We’ll explore themes related to verbal and emotional abuse, intimate partner abuse, highly offensive communications, and fraud. Listener discretion is strongly advised, as some content may be distressing. *

August 2020, Darlington, North East England. A woman began to receive vast numbers of abusive messages, which she believed were coming from her ex-partner Stuart Bell. It was not a straightforward matter for the police to establish whether it was Bell who was behind the messages. Investigating officer Kerris Dawson approached Dr Nicci MacLeod for help.

Join hosts Prof. Tim Grant and Dr Nicci MacLeod in unravelling the linguistic features that contributed to determining the authorship of the abusive messages. In this case, a particular spelling style played a key role in bringing justice to the victim.

Listen to discover more.

Episode Resources

Have a question for Nicci or Tim? Email us at writingwrongs@aston.ac.uk and we may answer it during an upcoming episode!

Check out the official AIFL blog for more forensic linguistic goodies here: https://medium.com/@AIFLblog

If you have been affected by any of the themes in this week’s episode, please contact one of these free sources:

https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/

https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/

Production Team: Mark Round, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera, Karolina Placzynta

Sound: Mark Round

Visual design: George Grant

Additional Voices: Mark Round, Sam Guerin

With special thanks to Robbie Love.

Professor Tim Grant’s home page: Tim Grant -Aston Research Explorer

Dr Nicci MacLeod’s home page: Nicci MacLeod - Aston Research Explorer

Series 2 - Episode 5 – Terror in the State of Denmark: Conversations from a List of Resolutes

* Warning: Today’s episode contains descriptions of religious extremism, radicalization and plots of violence or terrorism. *

Joined by Dr Tanya Karoli Christensen, hosts Nicci and Tim discuss a counterterrorism investigation from Denmark. In this case, linguistic analysis proved vital in unraveling implied meanings in text messages between a young man of Kurdish background, suspected of planning to travel to Syria to join ISIS, and another man, suspected of trying to recruit him.

Through an analysis of 192 written chat messages from March 2015 between the two individuals, Tanya shares how themes of money, battle and war, and urgency in planning played a role in advancing a Danish police investigation.

Listen to discover more.

Episode Resources

Have a question for Nicci or Tim? Email us and we may answer it during an upcoming episode!

Check out the official AIFL blog for more forensic linguistic goodies here.

If you have been affected by any of the themes in this week’s episode, please contact one of these free sources:

https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/

Production Team: Angela Walker, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera

Sound: Angela Walker

Visual design: George Grant

Additional Voices: Mark Round, Peter Kiddle

With our thanks to Dr Tanya Karoli Christensen

Professor Tim Grant’s home page

Dr Nicci MacLeod’s home page

Dr Tanya Karoli Christensen’s home page

Series 2 - Episode 4 – Writing Wrongs Live

* Warning: Today’s episode contains descriptions of violent murder, grooming and child sexual abuse, and online extremism. *

This month, Writing Wrongs comes to you live from the West Midlands Police Museum at the Old Steelhouse Lane Lock-up as a part of the ESRC 2025 Festival of Social Science. Our hosts are joined by colleagues Dr Emily Chiang and Dr Ralph Morton to discuss the past, present, and future of forensic linguistics. This is a preview of their (along with Prof Malcolm Coulthard) forthcoming book titled Forensic Linguistics in the United Kingdom: Origins, Progress and Prospects, which will be available early 2026 from Cambridge Elements.

We were also thrilled to be joined by many of our Wrong’uns (our loving nickname for our fans) for this recording session! It was so lovely to get to meet you and hear your stories. Thank you for your support!

Episode Resources

Have a question for Nicci or Tim? Email us at writingwrongs@aston.ac.uk and we may answer it during an upcoming episode!

Check out the official AIFL blog for more forensic linguistic goodies here: https://medium.com/@AIFLblog

If you have been affected by any of the themes in this week’s episode, please contact one of these free sources:

⁠* This episode contains no particular contentwarnings, there is however a very brief mention of another case involving sexual abuse *⁠

Production Team: Angela Walker, Loretta Milan, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera

Sound: Angela Walker

Visual design: George Grant

Additional Voices: Lesley McCarthy, Paul McCarthy, Dana Roemling, Marie Kreft, and Alexander Oldknow

With our thanks to the ESRC and the West Midlands Police Museum, Dr Zoe Adams, Dr Daniela Schneevogt, and Karolina Placzynta

Resources

Professor Tim Grant’s home page: Tim Grant - Aston Research Explorer

Dr Nicci MacLeod’s home page: Nicci MacLeod - Aston Research Explorer

Dr Emily Chiang’s home page: Emily Chiang - Aston Research Explorer

Dr Ralph Morton’s homepage: Ralph Morton - Aston Research Explorer

Series 2 - Episode 3 – Fake News at the New York Times: The Case of Jayson Blair

This episode is about the New York Times, a high reputation paper of record in the Untied States, and how in theearly 2000s they came to publish a series of articles, which turned out to be plagiarised or untrue. Together with Professor Jack Grieve, from the University of Birmingham, our hosts Nicci and Tim take a look at how a linguistic approach to detecting fake news can make a difference.

Episode Resources

Have a question for Nicci or Tim? Email us at ⁠writingwrongs@aston.ac.uk⁠ and we may answer it duringan upcoming episode!

Check out the official AIFL blog for more forensic linguistic goodies here: ⁠https://medium.com/@AIFLblog⁠

Production Team:

Angela Walker, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera

Sound:Angela Walker

Visual design:

George Grant

Additional Voices:

Angela Walker

With our thanks to Professor Jack Grieve

Professor Tim Grant’s home page:

⁠Tim Grant - Aston Research Explorer⁠

Dr Nicci MacLeod’s home page:

⁠Nicci MacLeod - Aston Research Explorer⁠

Professor Jack Grieve’s home page:

⁠Professor Jack Grieve - Department ofLinguistics and Communication - University of Birmingham⁠

Link to the book: ⁠The Language of Fake News

Series 2 - Episode 1 Part 2 – Derek Bentley: Let Him Say It

* Warning: Today’s episode contains descriptions of the killing of a police officer and the death penalty. *

STOP! If you haven’t listened to the first part of this episode, go back and listen before starting this episode.

Last time, Nicci and Tim explored the language around the custodial status of Derek Bentley, who was one of the last people to be hanged as criminal punishment in the UK in 1953.

In part 2, we welcome Prof Malcolm Coulthard, Professor Emeritus here at Aston University, one of the founders of AIFL (Center for Forensic Linguistics at the time), and granddaddy of forensic linguistics. Prof Coulthard joins Nicci and Tim to further unpack the case, this time focusing on the alleged confession Bentley gave the morning following the crime in question. Like Timothy Evans in series 1, it was unclear whether Derek Bentley had truly penned the written confession later given as evidence in court.

Episode Resources

Have a question for Nicci or Tim? Email us at writingwrongs@aston.ac.uk and we may answer it during an upcoming episode!

Check out the official AIFL blog for more forensic linguistic goodies here: https://medium.com/@AIFLblog

If you have been affected by any of the themes in this week’s episode, please contact one of these free sources:

https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/

https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/

Production Team: Sam Cook, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera

Sound: Sam Cook

Visual design: George Grant

Additional Voices: Sam Cook

With our thanks to Prof Malcolm Couthard

Professor Tim Grant’s home page: Tim Grant - Aston Research Explorer

Dr Nicci MacLeod’s home page: Nicci MacLeod - Aston Research Explorer

Professor Malcolm Coulthard’s research gate profile: Malcolm Coulthard – Research Gate

Series 2 - Episode 1 Part 1 – Derek Bentley: Death by Ambiguity

* Warning: This episode contains descriptions of gun violence, murder and capital punishment. *

In this first episode of a two-part case, Nicci and Tim discuss Derek Bentley’s story and the miscarriages of justice that occurred when he was found guilty of murder and received the death penalty.

Focusing on two different meaning ambiguities, our hosts explore 1) the alleged statement Derek made (‘Let him have it, Chris’) after which a police officer was shot, and 2) the legal vs. ordinary meaning of ‘to be held’, as it played a role in Derek’s failed appeal.

Episode Resources

Have a question for Nicci or Tim? Email us at writingwrongs@aston.ac.uk and we may answer it during an upcoming episode!

Check out the official AIFL blog for more forensic linguistic goodies here: https://medium.com/@AIFLblog

If you have been affected by any of the themes in this week’s episode, please contact one of these free sources:

https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/

Production Team: Sam Cook, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera

Sound: Sam Cook

Visual design: George Grant

Additional Voices: Sam Cook

With our thanks to Prof Malcolm Couthard

Professor Tim Grant’s home page: Tim Grant - Aston Research Explorer

Dr Nicci MacLeod’s home page: Nicci MacLeod - Aston Research Explorer

Professor Malcolm Coulthard’s research gate profile: Malcolm Coulthard – Research Gate

Series 1- Episode 8 – Questions and Answers

*Warning: this episode contains potentially distressing discussions*

In the series finale, Nicci and Tim will be answering some of the questions that you have been sending in over the course of series 1. From general questions about forensic linguistics to a deep dive into past episodes, we will be reviewing what series 1 has been about.

Episode Resources

Have a question for Nicci or Tim? Email us at writingwrongs@aston.ac.uk and we may answer it during an upcoming episode!

Check out the official AIFL blog for more forensic linguistic goodies here: https://medium.com/@AIFLblog

If you have been affected by any of the themes in this week’s episode, please contact one of these free sources:

https://gunmemorial.org/2019/12/09/donte-parker

Production Team: Angela Walker, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera

Sound: Angela Walker

Visual design: George Grant

Resources

Professor Tim Grant’s home page: Tim Grant - Aston Research Explorer

Dr Nicci MacLeod’s home page: Nicci MacLeod - Aston Research Explorer

Series 1 - Episode 7: They Said, She Said: The Aiya Napa R**e Case

*Warning: This episode contains descriptions of rape and allegations of false reporting of rape*

A 19-year-old British woman’s holiday in Ayia Napa turns into a nightmare when she’s accused of fabricating a gang rape claim. Was her police statement truly her own words?

In this episode, Dr Andrea Nini examines the linguistic evidence that became central to uncovering the truth behind this controversial case.

Listen now

Episode Resources

Have a question for Nicci or Tim? Email us at writingwrongs@aston.ac.uk and we may answer it during an upcoming episode!

Check out the official AIFL blog for more forensic linguistic goodies here.

See Andrea’s webpage here.

If you have been affected by any of the themes in this week’s episode, please contact one of these free sources:

https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/
https://www.helpguide.org/find-help

Hosts: Dr Nicci MacLeod, Professor Tim Grant
Production Team: Sam Cook, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera
Sound: Sam Cook
Visual design: George Grant
Additional Voices: Sam Cook, Amy Booth

Series 1 - Episode 6: The Disputed Confessions of Darnell Rusan

*Warning: The following contains descriptions of murder*

A man confesses to murder - eleven times. But was it his story or the detective’s? In this episode, Dr Marlon Hurt unpacks the case of Darnell Rusan, accused of killing Donte Parker in St. Louis, Missouri.

With only two seconds of grainy doorbell footage and a heavily guided police interrogation, forensic linguistics became key to uncovering the truth behind the words.

Donte Parker’s murder remains unsolved. If you have any information on this case, please visit https://slmpd.org/tips/ to submit an anonymous tip.

Episode Resources

Production Team: Sam Cook, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera

Sound: Sam Cook

Visual design: George Grant

Additional Voices: Sam Cook

With our thanks to Dr Marlon Hurt

Case Resources:

https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/incident/1568077

https://slmpd.org/tips/

Series 1 - Episode 5 - Foreygensic Lingeyguistics: Cracking the Killer’s Code

Release date: 2 May 2025

*Warning: This episode contains descriptions of murder and swearing*

What happens when a childhood language game is used to obscure the details of a crime? Well, you call in Dr Nicci MacLeod.

In this episode, Nicci recounts a time when the police approached her to analyse the language of a group of suspects covertly recorded on the way to and from court. At first, it didn’t seem as though the suspects were speaking English, but as Nicci realised, ‘egg’ was being worked in to words in attempt to obscure the true meaning for anyone who may be eavesdropping.

We would like to give special thanks to Andrea Jones for her support of this episode, and dedicate it to the memory of her brother Dolton Powell.

https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/

Episode Resources

Check out the official AIFL blog for more forensic linguistic goodies here: https://medium.com/@AIFLblog

If you have been affected by any of the themes in this week’s episode, please contact one of these free sources:

Production Team: Sam Cook, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera

Sound: Sam Cook

Visual design: George Grant

Additional Voices: Sam Cook

Resources

Links above and:

Dr Nicci MacLeod’s home page https://research.aston.ac.uk/en/persons/nicci-macleod

Gloucestershire Live ‘s coverage of the case https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/timeline-how-brutal-murder-gloucestershires-29677

BBC Expert Witness episode about the case: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0024gj1

Series 1 - Episode 4 - Romance Fraud: The Linguistic Crime Scene with Dr Elisabeth Carter

Release date: 4 April 2025

*Warning: This episode contains descriptions of fraud and exploitation*

To what lengths would you go for love? A sweet selfie, thoughtful good morning texts, or late-night phone calls might come to mind. But what about sending over £10,000 to someone you've never met in person?

It might sound far-fetched, but last year alone, more than 8,000 people in the UK fell victim to romance fraud - losing money to scammers who preyed on their hearts.

In this episode of Writing Wrongs, Nicci and Tim are joined by criminologist Dr Elisabeth Carter to unpack the manipulative language of romance scams.

Together, they explore how scammers build trust, how victims are drawn in - and how you can protect yourself in the ever-evolving world of online dating.

https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/

Episode Resources

If you have been affected by any of the themes in this week’s episode, please contact one of these free sources:

https://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/police-forces/thames-valley-police/areas/c/2020/a-guide-to-spotting-romance-fraudsters/

Production Team: Sam Cook, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera

Sound: Sam Cook

Visual design: George Grant

Additional Voices: Sam Cook (Roger), Jordan Robertson (Camilla)

With our thanks to Dr Elisabeth Carter

Resources

Professor Tim Grant’s home page: Tim Grant - Aston Research Explorer

Dr Nicci MacLeod’s home page: Nicci MacLeod - Aston Research Explorer

Dr Elisabeth Carter home page: Dr Elisabeth Carter | Kingston University London

Guide to spotting romance fraudsters:

Series 1 - Episode 3 - Imposters Tending To The Wild with Dr Isobelle Clarke

*Warning: This episode contains strong language and threats of terrorism and other violence.*

In 2018, a crudely made bomb was found in a car park in central Edinburgh. Later, blog posts by an unknown author appeared on a Mexican eco-anarchist website, in both Spanish and English, claiming responsibility for said bomb.

Our own Professor Tim Grant was contacted by Police Scotland to build a profile of the author. Two years later, the police contacted Tim again after identifying a potential suspect.

Dr Isobelle Clarke (Lancaster University) joined Tim in using comparative authorship analysis to determine who may have been responsible for these posts.

Release date: March 2025

https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/

Episode Resources

If you have been affected by any of the themes in this week’s episode, please contact one of these free sources:

Resources:

Professor Tim Grant’s home page https://research.aston.ac.uk/en/persons/tim-grant

Dr Isobelle Clarke’s home page https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/linguistics/about/people/isobelle-clarke

BBC Expert Witness episode about the case: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0fwyswv

BBC News story about case https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-60402838

Aston University 2022 press release about Karvounakis case https://www.aston.ac.uk/latest-news/linguistics-expert-aston-university-helps-police-scotland-secure-terrorism-conviction

Production Team: Sam Cook, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera

Producer: Sam Cook

Visual design: George Grant

Additional Voices: Sam Cook, Neus Alberich Buera

With our thanks to Dr Isobelle Clarke

Series 1 - Bonus - Kate Summerscale on her book - The Peepshow: The Murders at 10 Rillington Place

* Warning: Today’s episode contains descriptions of abortion, murder, and execution by hanging. *

In this special bonus episode, we are delighted to have award-winning author Kate Summerscale in to chat with Tim and Nicci about her most recent book, The Peepshow: The Murders at 10 Rillington Place.

It takes a deep dive into the case presented in our first episode, Timothy Evans: The birth of ‘Forensic Linguistics’ and the murders linked to Evans’ neighbour John Christie.

Release date: March 2025

https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/

Episode Resources

If you have been affected by any of the themes in this week’s episode, please contact one of these free sources:

https://www.katesummerscale.com/

Resources:

You can purchase The Peepshow and any other of Kate’s wonderful books here:

Production Team: Sam Cook, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera

Producer: Sam Cook

Visual design: George Grant

With our thanks to Kate Summerscale

Series 1 - Episode 1 - Timothy Evans: A case for forensic linguistics

* Warning: This episode contains descriptions of abortion, murder and execution by hanging *

Welcome to Series 1, Episode 1 of Writing Wrongs, a podcast from the Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics where hosts Professor Tim Grant and Dr Nicci MacLeod take a case-by-case look at the field of forensic linguistics in action.

This case covers Timothy Evans who, 75 years ago (9 March 1950), was hanged after confessing to the murder of his wife, Beryl and baby daughter, Geraldine.

However, 18 years after Evans’ death, linguist Jan Svartvik authored a publication calling the validity of Evans’ confession into question, and in doing so, coined the term ‘forensic linguistics’.

Release date: March 2025

https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/

Episode Resources

If you have been affected by any of the themes in this week’s episode, please contact one of these free sources:

Resources

IMDB for BBC mini series Rillington Place https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5568438/?ref_=tt_mlt_i_2

IMDB for film: 10 Rillington Place https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066730/

Internet archive of Ludovic Kennedy’s book 10 Rillington Place https://archive.org/details/tenrillingtonpla0000kenn [available on sale from secondhand booksellers]

Home page of Kate Summerscale author of The Peepshow The Murders at 10 Rillington Place https://www.katesummerscale.com

The original text of the Jan Svartvik book The Evans Statements A case for Forensic Linguistics https://www.thetext.co.uk/Evans%20Statements%20Part%202.pdf

Production Team: Sam Cook, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera

Producer: Sam Cook

Visual design: George Grant

Additional Voices: Sam Cook

Find out more about the diverse range of research and events taking place within the Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics and about how to elevate your undergraduate degree in a related field such as linguistics, English, criminology, law, sociology or psychology by enrolling on our MA Forensic Linguistics which can be taken on campus or distance learning.

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In the MA Forensic Linguistics programme at Aston University, you will be taught by members of the Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics (AIFL), the world's biggest grouping of forensic linguists. Our course is designed to help you explore cutting-edge research and practical applications.

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Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics has a vibrant community of PhD students, and current and past PhD members can be found on the Institute pages. If you are interested in studying for a PhD with us, please visit our PhD information page for further details.

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Studying BSc (Hons) Criminology at Aston University will develop your understanding of crime and the criminal justice system with a focus on social inequality, harm and deviance. This critical criminology programme emphasises employability and digital skills, equipping you with the tools to analyse crime in the context of societal changes.

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