Jason Arday was found dead at his home in south London on Friday, prompting an outpouring of tributes and renewed questions about the treatment he faced in the weeks before his death. Photograph: Christian Sinibaldi/The Guardian
Andy Burnham has described the death of Jason Arday, discovered at his south London home on Friday, as a “tragedy on so many levels”.
- Advertisement -
Arday stepped down last week from his professorship at the University of Cambridge following plagiarism allegations, all of which he denied. He was pronounced dead shortly after 3pm on Friday.
In a statement released through his publisher, Simon & Schuster UK, Arday’s family said they were “in shock to have lost this amazing father, partner, brother, uncle and son”.
The prime minister, speaking to broadcasters during a visit to Cornwall on Saturday, said: “It’s a tragedy on so many levels, but particularly just for everybody who knew Jason, his family obviously, his friends. We think of them today.
“It’s not a moment for any rushing to judgment. It’s a moment for reflection, I would say, reflecting on how how things came to this. A really sad, sad and sorry state of affairs and I think we all today think of Jason, his contribution and his family and friends.”
The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, and Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy were among the other prominent figures to offer tributes.
Khan said: “I’m devastated for the family and friends of Jason Arday. He faced an unacceptable public hounding and campaign of abuse. I know many Londoners will be angry and upset this evening.
“Jason Arday was the victim of a pernicious public shaming that other people in his position simply wouldn’t have faced. His death was a tragedy, but once again it should be a wake-up call for all of us.”
Appearing on Newsnight, Ribeiro-Addy named William O’Reilly, Ross Holmes, David Lachman and Nicola Morrison. She said they were among people who had been found to have plagiarised, manipulated data or reproduced entire pages from students’ papers or published work later withdrawn.
Ribeiro-Addy said the media coverage amounted to a cruel witch-hunt because it had extended beyond Arday himself.
“It aimed to target anybody that supported him, trying to isolate him as much as possible, going after people who had signed up to statements,” she said. “The difference between them and him was they were white, and he was not.”
Conservative MP James Cleverly said Arday’s death had angered him and argued that several people at academic institutions “have serious questions to answer”.
“They put him into positions he was clearly not qualified for so they could have a black wunderkind to show off, they pushed him into the spotlight for their own benefit,” they said. “His exposure was inevitable, a case of when, not if. His whole world fell apart.”
Simon Baron-Cohen, a clinical psychologist and director of the Autism Research Centre who knew Arday, told Radio 4’s Today programme that he had contacted him on Friday morning, when Arday said he felt unable to continue.
“He used those words in voice notes,” Baron-Cohen said. “At the heart of all of this was a man who’d been diagnosed in childhood with disabilities that included autism and language delay and learning differences.
“He was a vulnerable child, a vulnerable teenager and a vulnerable adult, so he needed and deserved safeguarding and support and reasonable adjustment every step of the way.”
Arday was first accused of copying another person’s work in his PhD thesis, allegations he rejected. A review by Liverpool John Moores University, where he completed the doctorate, upheld the decision to award him a PhD earlier this year.
In the past few weeks, scrutiny had broadened to other parts of his biography, including claims that he had raised exceptional sums for charity and completed long-distance running feats. Questions were also raised about whether he had been nonverbal during childhood.
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said Arday had endured “a public and brutal takedown that unleashed a tirade of racism”.
“I don’t believe this was ever simply about ‘professional conduct’ or ‘plagiarism’,” he said.
“There is a profound difference between scrutiny and a sustained public campaign that turns an individual into a symbol of everything the right believes is wrong with DEI.
“The effect has been chilling. It tells Black people and others from underrepresented backgrounds that entering prominent public positions will make you a target.
“A target not only for criticism of your work, but for a much broader political and cultural backlash.”
The Metropolitan police said Arday’s death was unexpected but was not considered suspicious.
