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

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

VOTE FOR US IN THE TRUE CRIME AWARDS 2026! [https://truecrimeawards.co.uk/truecrimeawards2026/en/page/listenerschoice] *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/ [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 [https://www.aston.ac.uk/writing-wrongs]   Have a question for Nicci or Tim? Email us at writingwrongs@aston.ac.uk [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 [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/] https://www.helpguide.org/find-help [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 [https://the-dots.com/users/greg-fraser-mclaren-630476] Resources Professor Tim Grant’s home page: Tim Grant - Aston Research Explorer [https://research.aston.ac.uk/en/persons/tim-grant]   Dr Nicci MacLeod’s home page: Nicci MacLeod - Aston Research Explorer [https://research.aston.ac.uk/en/persons/nicci-macleod]   Professor Jessica Woodham’s home page: Professor Jessica Woodhams - School of Psychology - University of Birmingham [https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/psychology/woodhams-jessica]   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 [https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/nov/07/usa.terrorism] -              Times of India 2006 - https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/articleshow/2168783.cms [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 [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/ [https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn05634/]

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

VOTE FOR US IN THE TRUE CRIME AWARDS 2026! [https://truecrimeawards.co.uk/truecrimeawards2026/en/page/listenerschoice] *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/ [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 [https://www.aston.ac.uk/writing-wrongs]   Have a question for Nicci or Tim? Email us at writingwrongs@aston.ac.uk [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 [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/] https://www.helpguide.org/find-help [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 [https://research.aston.ac.uk/en/persons/tim-grant]   Dr Nicci MacLeod’s home page: Nicci MacLeod - Aston Research Explorer [https://research.aston.ac.uk/en/persons/nicci-macleod]   Professor Jessica Woodham’s home page: Professor Jessica Woodhams - School of Psychology - University of Birmingham [https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/psychology/woodhams-jessica]   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 [https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/nov/07/usa.terrorism] -              Times of India 2006 - https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/articleshow/2168783.cms [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 [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/ [https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn05634/]

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. [https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/bmos-presents-we-will-rock-you/the-alexandra-theatre-birmingham/]  VOTE FOR US IN THE TRUE CRIME AWARDS 2026! [https://truecrimeawards.co.uk/truecrimeawards2026/en/page/listenerschoice]   For a list of our sources and more informationabout this case, please visit https://www.aston.ac.uk/writing-wrongs [https://www.aston.ac.uk/writing-wrongs]  Have a question for Nicci or Tim? Email us at writingwrongs@aston.ac.uk [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 [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/] https://www.helpguide.org/find-help [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 [https://research.aston.ac.uk/en/persons/tim-grant]   Dr Nicci MacLeod’s home page: NicciMacLeod - Aston Research Explorer [https://research.aston.ac.uk/en/persons/nicci-macleod] Dr Robbie Love's home page: Robbie Love - Aston Research Explorer [https://research.aston.ac.uk/en/persons/robbie-love/]

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 [https://www.aston.ac.uk/writing-wrongs]   Have a question for Nicci or Tim? Email us at writingwrongs@aston.ac.uk [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 [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/] https://www.helpguide.org/find-help [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 [https://research.aston.ac.uk/en/persons/tim-grant]   Dr Nicci MacLeod’s home page: Nicci MacLeod - Aston Research Explorer [https://research.aston.ac.uk/en/persons/nicci-macleod] Resources

'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 [https://www.aston.ac.uk/writing-wrongs] Have a question for Nicci or Tim? Email us at writingwrongs@aston.ac.uk [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 [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.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/] https://www.helpguide.org/find-help [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 [https://frankievu.com/], Aston students