Met Police boss admits mistake over Jason Arday plagiarism row

On Tuesday, the university initiated an investigation into the 41-year-old academic who made history in 2023 as Cambridge’s youngest black professor. This followed multiple reports raising serious claims against him. Times Higher Education (THE) reporter Grove disclosed that in 2025, he was probing allegations that the professor had plagiarised sections of his PhD thesis and had reached out to him for a right of reply.

During an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Grove recounted receiving an unexpected phone call from a Metropolitan Police officer in early February. The officer informed him that a complaint of harassment had been filed against him by the professor, who was reportedly very distressed, and that Grove should cease all contact. Grove expressed surprise, stating, “It was a complete shock. Apparently it was for harassment but I hadn’t contacted him for four months and then maybe I think I’ve only sent three or four emails to him in total.” Sir Mark, speaking to LBC, admitted fault in the handling of the situation, saying, “We dropped the ball on that one, let’s not beat around the bush.” He acknowledged that the harassment allegation should have been dismissed earlier and that the call made to Grove was inappropriate.

In a statement released on Wednesday via the campaign group Good Law Project, the professor conveyed the emotional strain caused by ongoing accusations and public scrutiny. He said, “relentless accusations, speculation and public commentary have taken a profound toll on me and on those I love.” He further expressed a desire to step away from the intense public observation, stating, “I no longer wish to feel as though I am living under a constant spotlight, where every aspect of my life is subject to public examination and judgement.” On his resignation, he clarified that it should not be interpreted as conceding to the narratives surrounding him.

The professor’s departure followed a sequence of media allegations accusing him of plagiarism in his PhD thesis, which he completed at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU). While LJMU, the institution that awarded his doctorate in 2015, had previously investigated these claims and found them unsubstantiated, further questions surfaced in the press. These included scrutiny over other assertions he made, such as running 600 miles in six days and raising £5.5 million for charity. In defending himself during an earlier interview with the Times, he explained that his PhD supervision was insufficient due to his autism and learning disabilities and that he lacked the financial means to hire a proofreader when beginning his academic career.

The controversy has sparked varied responses within academic circles. Philosopher and former Sussex University professor Kathleen Stock suggested that the university’s decision to appoint the professor was influenced by a desire to improve public relations. She told the Today programme, “The elite universities like Cambridge and Oxford had a particular problem because they are perceived to be quite harsh places, quite unkind places and very white places. And they wanted to change that impression.” Stock, who left her post in 2021 following disputes over free speech and gender identity debates, described the episode as a pivotal moment. Conversely, Kehinde Andrews, formerly a professor of black studies at Birmingham City University, refuted the notion that black academics benefit from preferential treatment based on race. Speaking to the BBC’s Today programme, he remarked, “What happens to black academics is we’re not in an area where it’s great and the left wing universities love us and they’re trying to promote us. What happens is you work at a place for 12 years, you’re very, very successful, and then you get made redundant. That’s the experience of black academics.

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