Police have confirmed the death of a 41-year-old man found unresponsive at a property in Battersea, south London, amid reports that the man was Professor Jason Arday, who resigned from the University of Cambridge following a plagiarism row.
Police statement on the death
The Metropolitan Police said officers attended Daley Thompson Way, in Battersea, where the academic lived, on Friday afternoon. A statement said: “Police were called by the London Ambulance Service at 15:12hrs on Friday, 14 August following a report that a man had been found unresponsive inside a property on Daley Thompson Way, SW8.
“Sadly, a 41-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. His next-of-kin have been informed and are being supported by officers. At this time his death is being treated as unexpected, but is not believed to be suspicious. The case is being investigated by officers from the Met’s Central South Command Unit. A file will be prepared for the coroner.”
Background of the plagiarism row
Prof Arday, a professor of sociology of education who became Cambridge’s youngest black professor in 2023, quit following a series of media reports alleging he plagiarised his PhD thesis – completed at Liverpool John Moores University – and other research. Further questions were asked in the press about the truth of other claims he made, including saying he ran 600 miles in six days and that he had raised £5.5 million for charity.
Investigations and resignation
An investigation at Liverpool John Moores University cleared Prof Arday of wrongdoing. Durham and Glasgow universities are investigating the circumstances around Prof Arday’s appointment to academic posts there, and Cambridge’s Jesus College has accepted his resignation from his fellowship, according to Prof Prentice.
Prof Arday said in his open resignation letter that the “only way to bring this chapter to an end is to step away”. He said: “This decision should not be interpreted as a loss of faith in scholarship or in the values that first brought me to Cambridge. Nor should it be mistaken for an acceptance of the narratives that have surrounded me. It is simply the decision of someone who has reached the limits of what any person should reasonably be expected to endure.”
Over the weekend, he cancelled events promoting his forthcoming memoir. Publisher Simon & Schuster previously said that the book, Great And Unfortunate Things, would be published in the UK on August 27.
