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

The lead barrister for the Post Office Horizon inquiry has been appointed to head an independent review into the death of Cambridge academic Jason Arday.

Jason Beer KC will examine the handling of allegations of “research and other misconduct” made against Arday before his resignation as well as the university’s recruitment and support for him as its youngest-ever black professor at the age of 37.

Beer said he would consider whether “wider institutional changes” were needed at Cambridge after looking into the protection it offered to academics “facing significant public and media scrutiny” and the procedures around the appointment of Arday.

The 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.

Arday denied the accusations of plagiarism but Cambridge said on 5 August it would open an investigation into his academic qualifications. He resigned hours after this was announced and was found dead nine days later.

Beer said Cambridge had asked him to conduct “an independent, thorough and searching examination” of its institutional arrangements and the decisions it made over Arday.

He 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.

“I hope that those who have relevant knowledge or experience will feel able to contribute to the review. Their perspectives may be important in understanding not only what happened in Prof Arday’s case but whether there are wider institutional changes to be made.

“I will take seriously my 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 reviews of Cambridge’s involvement with Arday. The first, announced by the university in September, asked 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.

A veteran of public inquiries, including working for NHS England in the Covid-19 inquiry, Beer is best known for his role as lead counsel to the Post Office Horizon IT statutory inquiry that 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.”