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Forensic Texts
© Forensic Linguistics Institute, 2000-2009.
Life sentences for
conspirators in paedophile
ring
James Rennie and Neil Strachan have
been handed life sentences by an
Edinburgh Court for their part in
organising and perpetrating a
paedophile ring. Emails which were
exchanged between the two were
analysed by the Forensic Linguistics
Institute for authorship.
First forensic linguistics lecture
at historic Law Faculty
The historic Law Faculty of
the University in Zagreb was
the scene of the first forensic
linguistics lecture in Croatia.
The Director of the Institute
was subsequently invited to
be a visiting professor of the
University at the Law Faculty,
and to become a board
member of the Language and
Law Centre, an EU Tempus
program project.
STOP PRESS: Gay hate mail pest
guilty. After sending anonymous hate
mail to a 16 year old, a court at
Kilmarnock has found John McCubbin
guilty of five breaches of the peace
having posted "malicious and
unsolicited items, sending e-mails and
placing his victims in a state of fear,
alarm and distress". The prosecution
report was prepared by the Forensic
Linguistics Institute.
Murder or suicide
Walter, aged 19, died from gunshot
wounds in his hometown in Alabama.
According to the girl he was with, he had
shot himself in front of her. Walter had
tried to end the relationship with the girl
several times but she had, according to
the boy’s mother, pestered him to
continue. Because Walter’s mother
thought the girl had been pressuring her
son so much just before his death, she
found it difficult to believe that Walter
had killed himself and her suspicions
were raised when the local county
sheriff refused to open an investigation,
stating that in his view suicide was the
cause. What was more, a letter had
been found in Walter’s pocket.
The Forensic Linguistics Institute
analyzed the letter and concluded that it
was probably a suicide note. Details of
this case, and a selection of the many
hundreds of others handled by the
Institute, are available in our latest
publication, Wordcrime, available from
all booksellers, whether local to you or
online.
