The police role in the Jason Arday case so far deserves rather more scrutiny than it has received. Certainly, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, has admitted that the force “dropped the ball”. It would appear the officers concerned were taken for fools by those looking to suppress the endeavours of a Times Higher Education journalist looking into Arday’s many fabulous claims. As with the tragic Henry Nowak case, it seems the police uncritically accepted the contentions of the first person they spoke with – in this case, Arday.
However, there may well be a legitimate role for the police to play here after all. Self-evidently, it is the job of the police to investigate potential crimes. On that front, the area deserving of Cambridgeshire Constabulary’s attention is as follows: what claims did Arday make to Cambridge University to secure his position at that institution – and were any of them knowingly false?
Criminal prosecutions where someone has secured a job by making assertions that have gone further than merely “gilding the lily” are unusual – but are by no means unheard of. The former Chief Constable of Northamptonshire Police, Nick Adderley, is awaiting trial for fraud and misconduct in a public office because of allegations that he made false claims about his military service and educational achievements when applying for roles in policing.
In relation to Arday, as is ever the case, proving the criminal threshold would be high.
Section two of the...
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