UK PM calls academic Arday’s death a ‘tragedy on so many levels’

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has described the death of former Cambridge professor Jason Arday as "a tragedy on so many levels". According to Burnham, "it's not a moment for any rushing to judgement. It's a moment for reflection, I would say, reflecting on how things came to this." Arday, 41, was found dead at an address in Battersea, south London.

Arday had resigned as a Cambridge professor of sociology of education last week after allegations of plagiarism and questions about some of his achievements, which he had denied. His family said in a statement that they were "in shock to have lost this amazing father, partner, brother, uncle and son" and that a "campaign of misinformation" had been too much for him. The University of Cambridge vice-chancellor Prof Deborah Prentice expressed sadness, saying the faculty was "desperately saddened" to learn of his death.

The Metropolitan Police said Arday's death is being treated as unexpected, but is not believed to be suspicious. According to RTE News, Arday told a friend he "couldn't go on" hours before he died, after being subjected to intense scrutiny over his academic career. Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan and Education Secretary Lucy Powell were among those who paid tribute, with Khan saying Arday was subjected to unrelenting media scrutiny.

Brief written by urgent.news from Malay Mail, MyJoyOnline Ghana, RTE News — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.