Forensic study of text messages leads to convictions

Scotsman:

A BRANCH of forensic science which analyses the electronic trail of evidence left by text messages and e-mails is increasingly being used by police to trap criminals.

British scientists are pioneering the use of forensic linguistics – the systematic analysis and comparison of patterns of written speech – to identify the authors of electronic messages and written documents.

The technique helped secure the conviction of the murderers of Essex schoolgirl Danielle Jones, 15, and Jenny Nicholl, 20, from North Yorkshire, and of al-Qaeda plotter Dhiren Barot.

Now scientists at the Centre for Forensic Linguistics at Aston University, Birmingham, say they are overwhelmed by requests from the police for help.

"We've seen a massive growth in casework, particularly in the area of electronic communication – SMS text messages, internet relay chat and e-mail – and our track record over the past ten years has shown it can be effective," Dr Tim Grant told the British Association for the Advancement of Science yesterday.

"It's particularly useful in difficult cases where … there's no physical crime scene."

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Perhaps because I am not that for away from email most of the time, I have never gotten into the texting craze. While I have done it on occasion and my new mobile has a slide out qwerty keyboard, I just don't have much of an occasion for using it. There are some folks like Detroit's former mayor who probably wish they were not so proficient with it.

In his case his identity was never in much doubt. The forensics in this story seems to be on a whole other level.