Human Rights, Justice & Society
Jason Arday death not suspicious, police say
London police said the death of Jason Arday, the former University of Cambridge professor who resigned during a plagiarism scandal, was being treated as unexpected but was not believed to be suspicious.
Arday, 41, was found unresponsive on Friday afternoon at an address in south London. The Metropolitan Police Service said a file would be prepared for a coroner, who will formally determine the cause of death. The force did not confirm the deceased person's identity.
Cambridge Vice-Chancellor Deborah Prentice confirmed Arday's death and said the university was “desperately saddened” by the news.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham called Arday's death “a tragedy on so many levels” and said it was “not a moment for any rushing to judgement”. He said it was a moment for reflection on how events had reached that point.
Arday resigned on August 5 from his posts as a Cambridge university professor and Jesus College fellow after Cambridge and the college announced investigations into accusations against him. Some academics and media reports had accused him of plagiarising parts of his doctoral thesis.
In a letter posted online when he resigned, Arday said quitting was “the only way” to end a difficult period, but said it should not be “mistaken for an acceptance of the narratives that have surrounded me”.
His family criticised what they called a “campaign of harassment” following allegations about his academic work and personal life. Arday had said that campaign was racially motivated.
Arday became Cambridge's youngest Black professor in 2023. His memoir, “Great and Unfortunate Things”, was published in the United States this week and was due to be released in Britain later this month.
Update
Jason Arday's family criticised what they called a campaign of harassment after allegations about his academic work and personal life.
Arday had said the campaign against him was racially motivated.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said it was not a moment for rushing to judgement and called for reflection on how events had reached this point.
Source note: AFP news report published on 15 August 2026 at 11:55:54 UTC.
Update
UK Prime Minister Burnham called Jason Arday's death a tragedy on so many levels.
Source note: AFP news report published on 15 August 2026 at 11:05:32 UTC.
Update
University of Cambridge Vice-Chancellor Deborah Prentice said the university was “desperately saddened” by Jason Arday's death.
Prentice offered sympathies to Arday's family and friends.
Source note: AFP news report published on 14 August 2026 at 20:29:39 UTC.
Update
London's Metropolitan Police said a 41-year-old man was pronounced dead after being found unresponsive in Battersea.
Police said the death was unexpected but was not believed to be suspicious.
Police said a file would be prepared for the coroner.
The police statement did not confirm the dead man's identity.
Source note: AFP news report published on 14 August 2026 at 20:10:19 UTC.
Update
UK media reported that Jason Arday died after being found unresponsive at an address in south London on Friday afternoon.
The reports cited a statement from London's Metropolitan Police Service.
Arday was 41.
Source note: AFP news report published on 14 August 2026 at 19:50:24 UTC.
Update
UK media reported that the former Cambridge University professor at the centre of the plagiarism scandal has been found dead.
Source note: AFP news report published on 14 August 2026 at 19:40:35 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The Metropolitan Police Service did not confirm the identity of the deceased person in its statement.
The coroner had not yet made a formal determination on the cause of death.
The plagiarism allegations remained allegations in the supplied material.
Source
AFP news report published on .