Professor Jason Arday was victim of ‘public execution’, vigil hears

People take part in a vigil organised by campaign group Stand Up to Racism (Yui Mok/PA) PA Wire Stanley Murphy-Johns 2 minutes ago Professor Jason Arday was the victim of a “public execution”, his friend and peer Lord Simon Woolley told a vigil which was attended by thousands of people.

During his speech, Lord Woolley revealed his friend had said during a meal just days before he died, “they’re hounding me to death”, adding that he “couldn’t see a way out”.

Organisers said more than 30,000 people gathered outside the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, central London , on Monday evening to pay tribute to the former Cambridge professor.

Speakers included MPs Diane Abbott and Dawn Butler, along with crossbench peer Lord Woolley and director of the Good Law Project Jo Maugham.

As he addressed the crowd, Lord Woolley described the press coverage of Prof Arday as a “public execution” and a “lynching”, to cheers of approval.

He added that he had dinner with Prof Arday last week, along with Ms Abbott and activist Misan Harriman, because they knew he was struggling.

Lord Woolley said: “We held him in our arms. We told him he was loved. He held Diane’s (Abbott) hands, and he said, ‘I love you, but’, he said, ‘they’re hounding me to death, and I cannot see a way out’.”

Prof Arday resigned from his post as professor of sociology of education at Cambridge last week after accusations of plagiarism were made against him.

People take part in a vigil organised by campaign group Stand Up to Racism (Yui Mok/PA) PA Wire Prof Arday, who became Cambridge’s youngest black professor in 2023, had faced intense scrutiny over the plagiarism allegations and questions about his achievements.

Lord Woolley said: “This wonderful man. Never stole a bag of crisps. He was exonerated from plagiarism.

Mourners gather in Trafalgar Square for vigil honouring professor Jason Arday

“But the dogs of hell, the hounds of hell, sought to pursue any inaccuracy that they could say Jason is a bad man, Jason doesn’t deserve to be in Cambridge.

“For them, Jason doesn’t deserve to be alive. There needs to be some reckoning. There needs to be some justice.”

During her speech on Monday, Ms Abbott said Prof Arday was the subject of a “vicious” and “bitter” campaign, by people who did not believe a black man should be a Cambridge professor.