Cambridge appoints Post Office inquiry barrister to lead review into death of Jason Arday

The University of Cambridge has appointed the barrister who led the Post Office Horizon inquiry to head an independent review into the death of the academic Jason Arday.

Jason Beer KC will examine how allegations of "research and other misconduct" made against Arday were handled in the period before his resignation. The review will also cover the university's recruitment of Arday and the support it gave him after he became its youngest ever black professor at the age of 37.

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 he had made about his career.

Arday denied the plagiarism accusations. On 5 August, Cambridge announced it would open an investigation into his academic qualifications. He resigned within hours of that announcement and was found dead nine days later.

Beer said the university had asked him to carry out "an independent, thorough and searching examination" of its institutional arrangements and the decisions it took concerning Arday. He said he would consider whether "wider institutional changes" were needed, including how Cambridge protects academics "facing significant public and media scrutiny" and the procedures that surrounded Arday's appointment.

Setting out his approach, Beer said: "I will look not simply at what the university's policies and procedures required but also at whether they were themselves reasonable; how they operated in practice; who was responsible for making decisions; what information was reasonably available to them; whether relevant concerns were recognised and properly addressed; and whether the university's various structures and functions worked together effectively, all in the case of Prof Arday, and more broadly."

He added: "I hope that those who have relevant knowledge or experience will feel able to contribute to the review." He also pledged to take seriously his responsibility "to treat participants with sensitivity, to respect confidentiality and to ensure fairness to anyone whose actions may be examined."

Beer's review is the second of two independent examinations of Cambridge's involvement with Arday. The first, announced by the university in September, appointed Nazir Afzal, a former chief crown prosecutor for north-west England, to focus on the support given to Arday in the immediate period before his death.

Beer is a veteran of public inquiries, including work for NHS England as part of the Covid-19 inquiry. He is best known as lead counsel to the Post Office Horizon IT statutory inquiry, which investigated the wrongful criminal prosecution of nearly 1,000 post office operators.

Prof Deborah Prentice, Cambridge's vice-chancellor, said: "Jason Beer is an eminent legal expert who will bring vast experience of leading complex reviews and inquiries. We are equally thankful to the distinguished panel of independent experts he has convened to assist him in this important task and look forward to receiving their findings and recommendations in due course."