Hundreds attend emotional Cambridge vigil for Jason Arday

Floral tributes attached to black railings. There is a picture of Jason Arday, with notes written to him. — Image caption,

Floral tributes have been left in Cambridge in memory of Jason Arday

ByJames Hore

More than 200 people have attended an emotional vigil in Cambridge to remember the life of Jason Arday.

The former Cambridge professor was found dead at an address in Battersea, south London, on Friday afternoon.

Arday, 41, resigned as a professor of sociology of education after allegations of plagiarism and questions about some of his achievements. He had denied the claims, and his family have since said the “campaign of misinformation” was too much for him.

Shahnaaz Khan, a PhD student at the Faculty of Education, said: “Look around you today, talk to someone you don’t know and hold their pain with yours.”

A crowd of people are standing listening to a woman dressed all in black holding a microphone. There is a Labrador on a lead lying on the ground, and there are floral tributes on railings to the right of the screen. — Image caption,

People gathered in Cambridge to remember Jason Arday

The vigil was organised by Arday’s postdoctoral students and was held on Sunday afternoon.

Kahn added: “Hold your friends close and know that we stand strong because we stand together.

“Now, there is a time for anger, of justifiable anger, and that time will come – but today is not that day.

“Today is about celebrating the life of a brilliant man, Professor Jason Arday.

“Today we share the ways Jason made a difference in our lives and in the lives of those around us.”

She said there would be a “promise to seek justice” for him.

Dressed in a black turtle neck and trousers, Jason Arday smiles at the camera in a BBC Radio 4 studio. — Image caption,

Jason Arday was found dead in Battersea, south London, on Friday

Andy Burnham has described Arday’s death as “a tragedy on so many levels”, as he called for a “moment for reflection”.

“It’s not a moment for any rushing to judgement. It’s a moment for reflection, I would say, reflecting on how things came to this,” the prime minister told broadcasters during a visit to Cornwall on Saturday.

Education Secretary Lucy Powell said she was “deeply shocked and saddened” and urged people to “remember there are real people with loved ones involved”.

Further vigils for Arday are set to take place in both Cambridge and London on Monday evening.

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