2021
Cyprus rape case: Police forced British teen to ‘retract’ attack claim, says lawyer
Independent, 17 September [>]
“when we had that statement examined by Dr Andrea Nini, who is an expert forensic linguist based at Manchester University, he said it was highly unlikely the words used in that reaction statement were the words of the teenager.“
Cyprus rape claim case: Lawyer of UK woman appealing conviction hopes for change in handling of cases
inews, 16 September [>]
“The second argument was that the woman’s retraction statement was written in ‘really dodgy English’ and were ‘highly unlikely to be the words of a teenager at the time’, according to an expert witness, forensic linguist Dr Andrea Nini from the University of Manchester.“
Atrapados por la lengua. 50 casos resueltos por la Lingüística Forense by Sheila Queralt Estévez, Larousse, January [>]
“Con su estudio, el doctor Nini probó ni más ni menos que las cartas más antiguas e históricamente importantes para el caso fueron escritas por la misma persona.“
2020
Ayia Napa rape case: The fight for justice
Crime Monthly, May
“Renowned forensic linguist Dr Andrea Nini gave evidence about the retraction Emily says she was forced to write. He tells Crime Monthly ‘Forensic linguistics was born from miscarriages of justice, when statements were taken by police from defendants under duress.”
Rally in support of woman in Cyprus ‘rape’ case
Victoria Derbyshire, BBC Two, 6 January [>]
“Forensic linguist Dr Andrea Nini analysed the police statement of a British woman convicted over a false rape claim, where she withdrew the original allegation.”
UK tour firm used by teenager in gang rape case ends trips to Ayia Napa
The Guardian, 3 January [>]
“Dr Andrea Nini, a forensic linguistics analyst who is listed as an expert by the UK’s National Crime Agency, said it was highly likely the statement was dictated to her by someone who does not speak English as a first language because of its use of irregular phrases, such as ‘I discovered them recording me doing sexual intercourse’ “.
Cyprus rape case: Experts cast doubt on teenager’s confession
The Times, 3 January [>]
“Andrea Nini, a forensic linguistics specialist at Manchester University, told the Daily Mail that it was ‘highly unlikely’ that the defendant had composed the statement in her own words.”
British teenager’s ‘confession’ over gang rape case WAS dictated by Cyprus police and uses ‘phrases an English person wouldn’t use’, language expert finds
Daily Mail, 2 January [>]
“Dr Nini, of Manchester University, said it was ‘highly unlikely’ someone of the defendant’s background would have composed the statement in that way.”
2019
Woman Who Accused 12 Men of Rape Is Guilty of ‘Public Mischief’ in Cyprus
The New York Times, 30 December [>]
“Andrea Nini, a forensic linguist, testified during the proceedings that it was likely that a paragraph in the statement had been dictated.”
UK teenager’s rape retraction ‘not written by native English speaker’
Sky News, 31 October [>]
“The teenager is being helped by lawyer Michael Polak, director of the group Justice Abroad, who said an 18-page report by forensic linguist Dr Andrea Nini will back her case. Mr Polak said: “He’s done a mathematical analysis of the words in her statement and concluded it’s highly unlikely they would be the words of a native English speaker rather than someone who speaks English as a second language.”
The journalist who created Jack the Ripper
Oxford University Press Blog, 9 October [>]
“One of the most fascinating aspects of the Whitechapel murders is indeed how long they survived in the collective imagination and how distant their recollection is from anything we know to be true.“
2018
The language of crime
School of Arts, Languages and Cultures Stories, 22 March [>]
“That’s another contribution of the Jack the Ripper study; testing and applying methods used to analyse short texts on this case. It’s an addition to that body of research.”
Forensic Linguist Ties Two Jack the Ripper Letters to One Author
Forensic Magazine, 7 February [>]
“Although it’s been more than a century since the murders and letters, the great thing about linguistics is it can’t be degraded—not in the way DNA or fingerprints can. Any ‘new’ evidence found in the case is corrupted because it’s been too long, but not linguistics.”
Jack the Ripper letters ‘faked to sell newspapers’
The Times, 1 February [>]
Jack the Ripper letters suggest newspaper hoax
BBC News, 1 February [>]
Jack the Ripper letter mystery solved by Manchester researcher
University of Manchester Press release, 29 January [>]
“I came across the Jack the Ripper letters a few years ago and I was surprised to know that there had not been any forensic linguistics analysis of them, so I thought that I could apply modern forensic linguistic techniques to uncover evidence about their author.”
2017
Solving crime one word at a time. How forensic linguistics aids investigational and evidentiary cases
Forensic Magazine, September [>]
“This method is new, it’s something we tried and saw it worked very well for solving this particular problem.”
Non fu Lincoln a scrivere la celebre lettera a Lydia Bixby
Futuro Quotidiano, 29 August [>]
Abe Lincoln mystery ‘almost certainly’ solved using technique similar to one that unmasked JK Rowling
University of Manchester Press release, 20 July [>]
“Because of its shortness the Bixby letter presented many challenges, and we had to devise a completely new method to analyse it.”
From ‘God’ to ‘Bigly’: US Word Use on Twitter Mapped by UK Linguists
Sputnik, 08 February [>]
“The level of detail we have right now and the possibilities are unprecedented. Possessing all the data on the Word Mapper on a country level, where we can go into minute detail, is everything a linguist dreams of.”
Lost for words – Twitter posts highlight differences in American vocabulary
University of Manchester Press release, 25 January [>]
“The app has become an entertaining and innovative way to engage the public with language diversity and to encourage people to reflect on linguistic and cultural differences.”
La mappa degli accidenti: Ecco l’America
La Lettura, Corriere della Sera, 22 January
2013
La linguistica forense: l’analisi del linguaggio per risolvere crimini
Memori Mese. February [>]
“Una nuova area sviluppatasi negli ultimi dieci anni è la linguistica forense, ovvero l’applicazione della conoscenza teorica della linguistica per scopi di natura forense, come ad esempio l’aiuto nella fase investigativa o probatoria in un caso giudiziario in cui vi siano prove di tipo linguistico. Un esempio di tali applicazioni è il caso di rapimento relativo alla lettera ad inizio pagina.”
Dr Andrea Nini 