Coroner to rule on black professor’s media hounding

If it was motivated by racism he should call it outProfessor Jason Arday, the black academic at the centre of the Cambridge plagiarism controversy, was found dead at his flat in Battersea in South London last Friday, August 14. Sadly and tragically it seems he took his own life but only a coroner can investigate how, when and in what circumstances Arday died and whether the relentless media campaign against him played a part not only in his downfall but in his death too. The late Jason Arday was professor of sociology of education at Glasgow University 2022-3 and professor of education at Cambridge University 2023-26 until he resigned on August 5 after allegations of plagiarism and other falsehoods made him resign. He had been appointed unanimously by a high-powered committee of nine academics including the distinguished Cypriot academic professor Michaelinos Zembylas of the Open University of Cyprus. Arday had overcome huge hurdles as an autistic child who was nonverbal until the age of 11 and illiterate until he was 18 to become at 35 the youngest black professor in Britain; and although some of his claimed achievements have been questioned, the basic facts about his autism have not been seriously challenged. After he was appointed, two academics with an axe to grind investigated his doctorate (PhD) from Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) and claimed he plagiarised significant passages from someone else’s thesis to obtain his PhD. The two academics are critics of the policy of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) about which one of them, an American eugenicist called Nathan Cofnas, made a highly offensive racist reference when he wrote that without DEI black people would largely disappear from high-profile positions outside sport and entertainment. A media frenzy followed culminating in sustained media attacks in July and August, as much against DEI that allegedly lay behind Arday’s appointment and Cambridge University as against the man himself. The fact, however, is that LJMU had investigated the allegation of plagiarism in 2023 and rejected it, holding that any overlap with another scholar’s PhD thesis was the result of “honest and reasonable error.” Cambridge University initially adopted a legalistic approach; basically that LJMU was the appropriate university to investigate allegations of plagiarism of PhDs it had awarded. And since LJMU had rejected the complaint of plagiarism, it was inappropriate for Cambridge University to investigate the same allegation. But on August 3 Cambridge University decided to investigate Arday’s appointment, owing to new information that had come to light about other instances of academic misconduct that had not been investigated by LMJU. On August 5, Arday resigned his professorship. He acknowledged errors in his academic work but denied plagiarism and complained that relentless accusations, speculation and public commentary had taken a profound toll on him. According to a reliable friend of his at Cambridge, the well-known and distinguished psychiatrist and expert on autism, professor Sir Simon Baron Cohen, Arday was not coping well with the loss of his career and reputation. He had been subjected to “relentless scrutiny” and was feeling very low and said in a voice message “he couldn’t go on.” Sir Simon described him as a “vulnerable autistic man” and a “kind and gentle man” who had unwittingly become a “lightning rod” for the wider argument about diversity, equity and inclusion in universities. Cambridge university’s current position is that after a period of respectful reflection, it will continue with its investigation and review its procedures for appointing senior academics, as will Glasgow university, that had also employed Arday. The tragic death of Dr Arday does not mean the credentials of top academics should not be vigorously scrutinised by the press. But freedom of expression is a double-edged sword and if the relentless scrutiny of Arday’s appointment was motivated by a racist agenda it should be called out by the coroner. This was not the first time a sensitive man killed himself after excessive and intrusive media scrutiny. There was the unwanted media scrutiny of Dr David Kelly, the government chemical weapons expert who spoke to a journalist about the veracity of the UK prime minister’s claim that Saddam Hussein could deploy weapons of mass destruction (WMD) against Britain. The journalist reported this on the BBC first thing the next day and the government mounted an investigation to find the journalist’s source. The government tracked Dr Kelly as the source and he was subjected to excessive media attention and criticism. In the end it got to him, and he was found dead in woodland near his home with cuts to his wrists – we now know it was Dr Kelly not the government who was telling the truth. Another case was that of professor Henry Samuel Bedson, a virologist at the University of Birmingham Medical School. A woman who worked above his laboratory contracted smallpox from his laboratory. He was very distressed that his laboratory was responsible and had to endure intense media interest and blame. He was found dead in his garden shed while on quarantine. The coroner who investigated the circumstances of Dr Bedson’s death said in effect that the press caused him to commit suicide – Dr Bedson had slit his throat. Although the coroner may have exceeded his role as he had no power to express an opinion on criminal or civil liability, coroners do have power under UK human rights law to look beyond the immediate cause of death and investigate all the background circumstances that play a part directly or indirectly in cases of death by suicide. The coroner who investigates the death of professor Jason Arday will first investigate if he did indeed commit suicide and, if so, whether the relentless media attacks on him was one of the circumstances by which professor Arday came to take his own life.