Tributes paid to Jason Arday after ex-Cambridge professor found dead

What the report says

Tributes have been paid to Jason Arday, the former University of Cambridge professor, after he was found dead at an address in Battersea, south London, on Friday afternoon, according to BBC World News. In a statement issued through his publisher, Simon & Schuster UK, his family said they were in shock and said a campaign of misinformation had been too much for him. Arday was 41.

BBC World News reported that Arday had resigned from his Cambridge sociology of education post the previous week after allegations of plagiarism and questions over aspects of his record. He denied the claims, though he acknowledged errors in some of his work and said the recent scrutiny had caused him significant personal distress. Cambridge said the accusations had been examined, and Liverpool John Moores University later concluded that he had not plagiarised work related to his PhD.

The death has prompted public comments from senior figures including Cambridge vice-chancellor Deborah Prentice and Education Secretary Lucy Powell, who both expressed sympathy for his family. London Mayor Sadiq Khan also said Arday had faced unacceptable public hounding. Friends and former colleagues told BBC News he had become increasingly withdrawn in recent weeks. More broadly, the case has renewed discussion about pressure on academics, media scrutiny and the treatment of Black scholars in higher education.