Forensic text message analysis is becoming a powerful tool in aiding criminal investigations.

Forensic mobile phone analysis was influential in February 2008 in providing linguistic evidence which contributed to the conviction of David Hodgson in the tragic murder of Jenny Nicholl.

The Jenny Nicholl case highlighted how people choose their own text language "rules" - which they tend to use throughout all their messages. Each persons “text speak” differs from one and other.

Forensic linguists showed that text messages sent from Jenny's phone after she went missing had a style that was more similar to that of David Hodgson.

Jenny Nicholls' body was never found, but the jury accepted the prosecution's view that Hodgson had been sending texts on her mobile after her presumed death and found him guilty of murder. The case is illustrative of what can be achieved by analysing mobile phone messages

Speaking at the British Association Science Festival in Liverpool, Dr Tim Grant, Centre for Forensic Linguistics at Aston University, explained his theory on forensic text message analysis. He stated that identifying the author of an anonymous text message might seem like an impossible challenge as they are typically very short and fragmented. Traditionally, forensic linguists use a descriptive approach but modern technological developments and a systematic approach to text message analysis has helped solve several criminal investigations.

Mr Grant demonstrated that there are several stylistic features that are consistently used in messages where they know the author. For example, Jenny Nicholl used "my" and "myself" while David Hodgson often adopted Yorkshire dialect, using "me" and "meself."

Forensic linguists looks to see whose style is most similar to that used in any disputed texts and is becoming a common forensic tool. Mobile phone forensic analysis is now being used to identify witness during assaults and also to identify suspects in workplace bullying.

Dr Grant’s method of quantifying linguistic evidence can be later used in court. He has built a specialised language database of over 8,000 text messages and analysed them using robust statistical methods that he has adapted from those originally developed by forensic psychologists investigating sexual crimes.

For further information on forensic mobile phone analysis, forensic text message analysis and forensic sim card analysis please visit Forensic Resources Ltd.