Writing Wrongs

Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics
  • 4.0 (1)
  • True Crime
  • Updated Monthly

Every sentence tells a story, every word leaves a trace. Writing Wrongs, from the Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics, explores historic and contemporary forensic linguistic cases. Hosts Professor Tim Grant and Dr Nicci MacLeod, who've provided expert evidence in hundreds of cases, examine a specific case and its linguistic analysis each episode. Some episodes feature guest forensic linguists sharing their experiences as expert witnesses. The series highlights different case types, showcasing the strengths and limitations of forensic linguistics in criminal and civil investigations.

  1. The multiple personas of an online child abuser

    Jun 5

    The multiple personas of an online child abuser

    * Warning: Today’s episode contains descriptions of child sexual abuse material. *   In today’s episode, Dr Nicci MacLeod and Prof. Tim Grant are joined by Dr Emily Chiang, one of our Research Fellows at AIFL, about her research into identity performance in online child sexual abuse conversations. By tracing 17 different personas from a single perpetrator, Dr Chiang explored linguistic differences in identity performance and online grooming strategies. Together, Dr Chiang and our hosts go over how her research may help future grooming and child sex abuse cases.   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 resources:  https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/ https://www.helpguide.org/find-help   Production Team: Mark Round, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera, Karolina Placzynta Sound: Mark Round Editing: Nicci MacLeod Visual design: George Grant Additional Voices: Karolina Placzynta With our thanks to Dr Emily Chiang and Dr Zoe Adams   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   Both Tim and Emily are part of the Europewide Horizon SALVUS project looking at the investigation of online child abuse and exploitation across Europe. You can find out more about the SALVUS project here: https://salvusproject.eu   Research Papers: Deceptive identity performance: Offender moves and multiple identities in online child abuse conversations  Online grooming: moves and strategies  Do Perverted Justice chat logs contain examples of Overt Persuasio⁠n and Sexual Extortion? A research note respondingto Chiang and Grant 2017 and 2018.

    40 min
  2. Dhiren Barot Part 2: Al Qaeda's al-Britani

    Apr 30

    Dhiren Barot Part 2: Al Qaeda's al-Britani

    VOTE FOR US IN THE TRUE CRIME AWARDS 2026! *Warning: this episode contains descriptions of terrorist mass-casualty events, and torture *   NOTE: This is Part 2 of a double episode. Please make sure you have listened to Part 1 before proceeding.   --- 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/ ---   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 second part we are joined by Professor Jessica Woodhams from the University of Birmingham who, alongside Tim Grant, Janet Cotterill, and Janet’s PhD student, was rushed to New Scotland Yard in the summer of 2004 to carry out an analysis of The Gas Limos project.   For a list of our sources and more information about this case, please visit https://www.aston.ac.uk/writing-wrongs   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, Stephany Grant, Dr Graeme Hayes,  Greg Fraser McLaren Resources 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/

    59 min
  3. Dhiren Barot Part 1: Al Qaeda's al-Hindi

    Apr 30

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

    VOTE FOR US IN THE TRUE CRIME AWARDS 2026! *Warning: this episode contains descriptions of terrorist mass-casualty events, and torture *   ---  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/ --- 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?   For a list of our sources and more information about this case, please visit https://www.aston.ac.uk/writing-wrongs   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  Resources 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/

    43 min
  4. Season 2 Post-script: Writing Wrongs meets CorpusCast

    Apr 1 ·  Bonus

    Season 2 Post-script: Writing Wrongs meets CorpusCast

    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’ bestclips 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 tools in forensic linguistics. 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.  VOTE FOR US IN THE TRUE CRIME AWARDS 2026!   For a list of our sources and more informationabout this case, please visit https://www.aston.ac.uk/writing-wrongs  Have a question for Nicci or Tim? Email us at writingwrongs@aston.ac.ukand 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 Team: Mark Round, Jordan Robertson,Neus Alberich Buera, Karolina Placzynta Sound: Mark Round Visual design: George Grant Additional Voices: Prof Malcolm Coulthard, Dr Issy Clarke, Dr Andrea Nini With our thanks to Dr Robbie Love   Professor Tim Grant’s home page: Tim Grant- Aston Research Explorer   Dr Nicci MacLeod’s home page: NicciMacLeod - Aston Research Explorer Dr Robbie Love's home page: Robbie Love - Aston Research Explorer

    35 min
  5. Season 2 - Questions and Answers

    Mar 6

    Season 2 - 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 Season 2. From general questions about forensic linguistics to a deep dive into past episodes, we will be reviewing what season 2 has been about.   For a list of our sources and more information about this case, please visit https://www.aston.ac.uk/writing-wrongs   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 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 Resources

    35 min
  6. 'Slang' on Trial Part 1: Duppying Yoots

    Feb 6

    'Slang' on Trial Part 1: Duppying Yoots

    Series 2 - Episode 7 - Part 1 * 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. For a list of our sources and more information about this case, please visit https://www.aston.ac.uk/writing-wrongs 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 forensiclinguistic goodies here: https://medium.com/@AIFLblog 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 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

    57 min
  7. 'Slang' on Trial Part 2: My Killy and Other Friends

    Feb 6

    'Slang' on Trial Part 2: My Killy and Other Friends

    * 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’.         For a list of our sources and more information about this case, please visit https://www.aston.ac.uk/writing-wrongs       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 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        Resources      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

    44 min
  8. Toxic Texts from the Tees Valley

    Jan 2

    Toxic Texts from the Tees Valley

    Series 2 - Episode 6 * Warning: Today’s episode contains descriptions ofharassment 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 begins to receive vast numbers of abusive messages, which she believes are 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 Professor Tim Grant and Dr Nicci MacLeod in unravelling the linguistic features that contributed to determining the authorship of the abusive messages.  For a list of our sources and more information about this case, please visit https://www.aston.ac.uk/writing-wrongs   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   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 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

    1h 12m
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About

Every sentence tells a story, every word leaves a trace. Writing Wrongs, from the Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics, explores historic and contemporary forensic linguistic cases. Hosts Professor Tim Grant and Dr Nicci MacLeod, who've provided expert evidence in hundreds of cases, examine a specific case and its linguistic analysis each episode. Some episodes feature guest forensic linguists sharing their experiences as expert witnesses. The series highlights different case types, showcasing the strengths and limitations of forensic linguistics in criminal and civil investigations.

Information

  • Creator
    Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    23
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics
  • Show Website
    Writing Wrongs

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