Lord Simon Woolley Calls For Investigation Into the Media Treatment of Prof. Jason Arday

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Jason Arday Said He Felt ‘Hounded to Death’ Days Before He Died as Cambridge College Head Demands Media Inquiry

Lord Simon Woolley has called for an investigation into what he described as a “vicious media onslaught” against Professor Jason Arday, revealing that the Cambridge academic told friends just days before his death that he felt “hounded to death” and could see no way out.

Pressure is growing for an investigation into the media treatment of Professor Jason Arday after the head of a Cambridge college accused sections of the press of subjecting him to a “horrendous, toxic, vicious witch hunt” before his death.

Lord Simon Woolley, principal of Homerton College, Cambridge, made the extraordinary intervention on BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House on Sunday, saying the scrutiny directed at Arday had ceased to be legitimate academic examination and had instead become a “blood sport”.

Arday, 41, was pronounced dead at an address in Battersea, south London, on Friday. He had resigned from his position as professor of sociology of education at Cambridge the previous week following intense media coverage of allegations concerning his academic work and qualifications.

Woolley revealed that he had met Arday on Monday, just days before his death, alongside several close friends, including Labour MP Diane Abbott and photographer and activist Misan Harriman.

“He said he felt hounded to death, his words. And he couldn’t see a way out,” Woolley said.

He described Arday as being in a deeply distressing condition, telling listeners: “On that day we saw a man half his body weight and desperate beyond belief.”

According to Woolley, Abbott held Arday’s hand and told him that those around him would help him through the crisis.

But Woolley said the level of pressure being directed at the academic had already become extreme.

“It was a blood sport,” he said. “This wonderful big-hearted young man never stole a bag of crisps.”

“He was only accused of plagiarism; actually he was found not culpable of plagiarism by John Moores University and yet he was subject to the most horrendous, toxic, vicious witch hunt I would argue very few of us would withstand.”

Liverpool John Moores University, where Arday completed his PhD, investigated the allegations and cleared him of wrongdoing. Arday had always denied plagiarism.

The Telegraph had reported that an analysis of his doctoral thesis identified more than 180 passages said to be identical or near-identical to another student’s work.

Cambridge University subsequently began investigating questions surrounding Arday’s academic qualifications and was separately considering complaints alleging academic misconduct.

He resigned from Cambridge’s Faculty of Education shortly before his death.

Woolley stressed that universities must investigate plagiarism and research misconduct where legitimate concerns arise, but said the treatment of Arday had moved far beyond normal scrutiny.

“Academia always has to be rigorous in rooting out plagiarism and falsehoods,” he said. “This was not rigour, this has been a blood sport, literally a blood sport.”

He added that other academics had faced accusations and even findings of plagiarism without being subjected to anything approaching the same intensity of public scrutiny.

“There are a number of individuals who have all been subject to accusations and findings of plagiarism, not one of them has been subject to the degree Jason Arday has,” Woolley said.

The controversy has also raised wider questions about race and the treatment of Black academics in Britain, particularly against the backdrop of increasingly hostile debate around diversity, equity and inclusion.

Woolley said Black academics had effectively been dragged into the controversy collectively, with suggestions that their positions were the product of diversity initiatives rather than merit.

“You also have to understand the whole of the Black community and Black academics are being brought into this debate as though we don’t belong in these positions because we are, collectively, the diversity, equity and inclusion hires,” he said.

He pointed out that Black professors remain extremely rare at Cambridge, saying fewer than 0.5 per cent of its 975 professors were Black.

“Black people are not given any special favours in entering these hallowed institutions,” he said.

Arday’s appointment had been widely celebrated when he became Cambridge’s youngest Black professor. His journey into academia, after facing significant educational challenges earlier in life, had made him one of Britain’s most prominent Black academics.

In the final weeks of his life, however, that story was overshadowed by an escalating public controversy over his academic record.

Woolley had previously joined politicians, academics and public figures in signing an open letter organised by the Good Law Project in support of Arday.

The letter alleged that he had been subjected to “two weeks of harassment” and called for an “immediate public inquiry into how to ensure a responsible press”.

Among the signatories are Green Party leader Zack Polanski, Labour MPs Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Clive Lewis and Nadia Whittome, National Education Union general secretary Daniel Kebede and broadcaster Carol Vorderman.

Campaigners are also understood to be coordinating mass complaints to news organisations over aspects of the coverage.

Woolley’s account is likely to become central to the growing debate because it provides a direct description of Arday’s state of mind only days before his death.

His statement that Arday believed he was being “hounded to death” will inevitably intensify questions over whether the cumulative scale, tone and persistence of the coverage crossed the line between legitimate scrutiny and the sustained targeting of an individual.

Cambridge vice-chancellor Professor Deborah Prentice has expressed her “thoughts and deepest condolences” to Arday’s family and loved ones.

Andy Burnham also called for a “moment of reflection” following his death.

The Prime Minister described what had happened as “a tragedy on so many levels” and cautioned against rushing to judgment.

“It’s not a moment for any rushing to judgment,” he said. “It’s a moment for reflection, I would say, reflecting on how things came to this.”

For Woolley, however, reflection should now be followed by scrutiny of the media itself.

“We need an investigation into the media onslaught, the vicious media onslaught,” he said.

Arday is survived by his wife and two children.

His family have remembered him as a “gentle man” and an “amazing father, partner, brother, uncle and son”.