Cambridge appoints Post Office inquiry barrister to lead review into death of Jason Arday
Cambridge University has appointed barrister Jason Beer KC to lead an independent review linked to the death of academic Jason Arday. It will examine how misconduct allegations were handled, and how the university recruited and supported him.
Cambridge University in the UK has appointed senior barrister Jason Beer KC to head an independent review into the death of its academic Jason Arday. Beer is best known as lead counsel to the statutory inquiry into the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, which looked at the wrongful criminal prosecution of nearly 1,000 post office operators. The review could lead to wider institutional changes at the university.
What the review will cover
Beer will examine how the university handled allegations of research and other misconduct made against Arday before he resigned. He will also look at Arday's recruitment and the support he received; at 37, he became the university's youngest-ever black professor. The review will assess the protection offered to academics facing significant public and media scrutiny.
Beer said he would consider not only what university policies required, but whether they were reasonable, how they worked in practice, who made decisions, what information was available, and whether the university's structures worked together effectively. He invited people with relevant knowledge to contribute, and promised sensitivity, confidentiality and fairness to anyone whose actions are examined.
Background
Arday, a professor of the sociology of education, died at his home in south London while facing widely publicised allegations of plagiarism and inconsistencies in statements about his career. He denied the plagiarism claims. On 5 August Cambridge said it would investigate his academic qualifications; he resigned hours later and was found dead nine days after that.
Beer's is the second of two independent reviews. The first, announced in September, asked Nazir Afzal, a former chief crown prosecutor for north-west England, to focus on the support given to Arday immediately before his death. Vice-chancellor Prof Deborah Prentice said Beer has vast experience of leading complex reviews and thanked the panel of independent experts he has convened.
