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PREJUDICE against certain accents have raised serious concerns about bias in the criminal justice system.
A group of 180 people listened to recordings of 10 different accents in a study conducted by the University of Cambridge and Nottingham Trent.
Those with Liverpool and Bradford accents were perceived as the most likely to behave in criminal ways, while people with “posh” “received pronunciation” accents were seen as least likely to commit most crimes, with the exception of sex offences.
When it came to sexual touching without consent, the posh accent was rated third, behind Cockney and Scouse.
Glasgow and Belfast accents were viewed as least likely to commit such an offence.
Lead author Alice Paver, from Cambridge University’s phonetics laboratory, said: “Our findings bring into sharp focus the disadvantage that speakers of some accents may still face in the criminal justice system.
“Voices play a powerful role in the criminal justice system and police officers, lawyers and juries are all susceptible to judging voices based on stereotypes, whether they’re aware of it or not.
“As things stand, listeners think some accents sound guiltier than others and we should all be concerned about that.”
