Lord Woolley joins call for inquiry into ‘hounding’ of Jason Arday

LONDON:

Lord Simon Woolley, the principal of Homerton College, Cambridge, has joined forces with the campaigning pressure group Good Law Project to call for an immediate investigation in the media onslaught against Jason Arday, the former Cambridge professor who was found dead at a London address last week.

Arday, 41, who became Cambridge’s youngest black professor in 2023, resigned as a professor of sociology of education a week earlier after he came under intense media scrutiny over his academic qualifications and allegations of plagiarism.

Lord Woolley, speaking to BBC Radio 4 on Sunday said he and a number of close friends had met Arday four days before he was found dead at a south London address.

He said Diane Abbott and social activist Misan Harriman were among those who gathered to offer support as they had also experienced “horrible media attention”.

Lord Woolley said: “Arday felt ‘hounded’, and the relentless media coverage had been a blood sport. Diane said to him, we will help you get through this. But on that day we saw a man half his body weight and desperate beyond belief.”

Lord Woolley said issues of plagiarism were constant in academia and that a number of individuals who had been accused of plagiarism had not been subjected to the attention Arday had received.

“We have to ask this question, we have to talk about - which a lot of people don’t want to talk about- is racism. You have to look at negatively differential treatment.”

Lord Woolley is among the signatories in the open letter issued by the Good Law Project to the prime minister and the culture secretary calling for an immediate public inquiry to ensure that “we never see a tragic death like Dr Arday’s again”.

Among the other 62 signatories are MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Green Party leader Zack Polanski, MP Clive Lewis, civil rights solicitor Imran Khan KC, MP Diane Abbott, Dr Shabna Begun, CEO of the Runnymeade Trust, actress Carol Voderman, Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, Misan Harriman, Professor Rochelle Burgess, Sir Patrick Vernon OBE, and Professor Priyamvada Gopal.

The Good Law Project letter said in part: “There cannot be any doubt that Dr Arday’s tragic death was the direct, foreseeable, and foreseen result of press harassment. A significant element in that harassment was the colour of his skin. Self-regulation of the press has comprehensively failed.

“Several weeks ago, Simon Baron-Cohen, director of Cambridge University’s Autism Research Centre, warned publicly that ‘1 in 4 autistic people have planned or attempted suicide’ and talked of the ‘relentless bullying of a vulnerable autistic man which raised safe-guarding issues’. Many of the signatories to this letter warned multiple media outlets privately that their relentless pursuit of Dr Arday risked his suicide.

“Two weeks of relentless harassment followed, continuing even after his resignation as a professor when the reasonable public interest in the story had diminished or evaporated.

“Dr Arday died in the most tragic circumstances. His tragic death did not result from the allegations of plagiarism but from the press coverage. There cannot be any doubt that racism lay at the heart of this story.

“The harassment of public figures because of the colour of their skin is not unique to Dr Arday. Misan Harriman, Diane Abbott, Eniola Aluko, Jameela Jamil, Halima Begum, and others have experienced press harassment with racist overtones.

“To be black and a public figure is now enough to make you a target. Black people are fearful, and on the evidence, they are right to be.

“Enough is enough. We respectfully ask you to commission an immediate public inquiry into how to ensure a responsible press given its contribution to Dr Arday’s tragic death.”

After Arday was found unresponsive at an address in south London on Friday, August 14, and pronounced dead at the scene, the Met Police said his death is being treated as unexpected but is not believed to be suspicious.

His family said in a statement that they were “in shock to have lost this amazing father, partner, brother, uncle, and son”.

“The campaign of misinformation was too much for Jason, who was a gentle man and who always wanted to see the best in everyone,” they added.

Arday had resigned from Cambridge shortly before his death following allegations of plagiarism in his academic work.

Liverpool John Moores University, which awarded Arday his PhD in 2015, investigated allegations concerning his thesis and concluded that he had not plagiarised work.

Announcing his resignation, Arday said: “While criticism is an inevitable part of academic life, what I have experienced has gone far beyond scholarly disagreement.

“The relentless accusations, speculation, and public commentary have taken a profound toll on me and on those I love.”