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Cambridge professor dies
Jason Arday, a former University of Cambridge professor at the center of a plagiarism scandal, was found dead at 41 on Friday in Battersea, south London, after being found “unresponsive” by the ambulance service at a property there.
“Sadly, a 41-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene.”
The Metropolitan Police said, “Sadly, a 41-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene,” and added that the death was “not believed to be suspicious,” with the case investigated by officers from the Met’s Central South Command Unit.
Cambridge vice-chancellor Deborah Prentice said, “We are desperately saddened to hear this tragic news,” after Arday resigned on August 5 following allegations of plagiarism in his PhD thesis.
The BBC reported that Arday resigned as a Cambridge professor of sociology of education last week after allegations of plagiarism and questions about some of his achievements, which he denied.
The Times of Israel and the BBC both tied the death to the weeks of public scrutiny after Arday resigned amid accusations of plagiarism and media pressure.
Family, officials, and critics
Arday’s family said they were “in shock to have lost this amazing father, partner, brother, uncle and son,” and described a “campaign of misinformation” as “too much for Jason.”
Cambridge’s Vice-Chancellor Deborah Prentice said, “Our heartfelt sympathies go to Jason Arday's family and friends at this incredibly difficult time,” while Education Secretary Lucy Powell urged people to “remember there are real people with loved ones involved.”
Supporters and academics framed the controversy as harassment rather than scholarship, with Simon Baron-Cohen telling the BBC that Arday “was being subjected to relentless scrutiny, including ridicule, discrediting absolutely every detail of his life.”
Jolyon Maugham from Good Law Project told the BBC that Arday’s death was “a tragedy,” adding, “I do not understand what the public interest was in continuing to hound him after he resigned as a professor.”
The BBC also quoted Kehinde Andrews describing Arday after resigning as “very upset,” saying he “effectively wasn't leaving the house.”
What happens next in Britain
Cambridge announced an investigation into the circumstances of Arday’s appointment to the Faculty of Education in 2022 and his time there since, after it had previously said plagiarism allegations were investigated by Liverpool John Moores University.
“the university will have to answer bigger questions including about its duty of care”
The BBC reported that Cambridge initially said claims about Arday’s thesis and some journal publications had been investigated by Liverpool John Moores University and the journals, and that LJMU concluded he had not plagiarised work.
In a later shift, the BBC said Cambridge would have to answer “bigger questions including about its duty of care after it put him into a very prominent position,” while the Jerusalem Post said the university announced an investigation earlier this week into the circumstances of Arday’s appointment and his time there since.
The controversy also drew political attention, with Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy telling BBC Newsnight that “the idea that an academic would be dragged through this amount of media scrutiny is unheard of.”
Outside Cambridge, the BBC reported that London Mayor Sadiq Khan said on X that Arday faced “an unacceptable public hounding and campaign of abuse,” and that Hacked Off called for an “inquiry into the culture and behaviour of the British press.”
