ABSTRACT
The following reading, by Malcolm Coulthard, is from a collection of important essays covering all aspects of forensic linguistics. Coulthard’s paper focuses on the famous case of Derek Bentley, the last man to be executed in Britain, who was found guilty of murder and hanged in 1953. This is one of a sequence of ‘real time’ publications by Coulthard on the case (for the first of which, see Coulthard 1992), and the series as a whole serves a good illustration of the very involved and ‘hands-on’ work of the forensic discourse analyst. In 1998, Bentley’s case came before the Court of Appeal and his conviction was successfully overturned – but only 45 years after his execution and long after all of his nearest surviving family members had died.
