Former Cambridge professor Jason Arday told a close friend he felt he “couldn’t go on” in a voice note sent just hours before he was found dead at his home in south London.

Prof Arday, 41, was pronounced dead after emergency services were called to Daley Thompson Way in Battersea shortly after 3pm on Friday, August 14, following reports that a man had been found unresponsive inside a property.

The Metropolitan Police said his death is being treated as unexpected but is not believed to be suspicious.

His death came just over a week after he resigned as professor of sociology of education at the University of Cambridge and as a fellow of Jesus College amid intense scrutiny over allegations of plagiarism and questions about claims he had made about his life and career.

Sir Simon Baron-Cohen, director of Cambridge’s Autism Research Centre, has now revealed that he spoke to Prof Arday on Friday morning and received voice notes from him.

Sir Simon told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that his friend had been struggling with the pressure surrounding the controversy.

“He was being subjected to relentless scrutiny, including ridicule, discrediting absolutely every detail of his life, and he wasn’t coping with the loss of his career, the loss of his reputation, and he felt he couldn’t go on,” he said.

“He used those words in voice notes.”

Sir Simon said he had become increasingly concerned about Prof Arday during the final days of his life.

“In the last 10 days, I’ve witnessed his mental health getting worse and worse,” he said.

He added that the final voice note he received on Friday morning indicated that Prof Arday felt he could no longer continue.

Sir Simon described him as a “kind and gentle” man and said his vulnerabilities should not be forgotten when examining what happened.

“At the heart of all of this was a man who’d been diagnosed in childhood with disabilities that included autism and language delay and learning differences,” he said.

“He was a vulnerable child, a vulnerable teenager, and a vulnerable adult, so he needed and deserved safeguarding and support and reasonable adjustment every step of the way.”

Prof Arday’s death followed a dramatic period in which his academic record and personal history had come under intense scrutiny.

Born in London in 1985, he had spoken publicly about being diagnosed with autism and global developmental delay as a child and not learning to speak until he was 11.

His subsequent academic career saw him work at universities including Durham and Glasgow before joining Cambridge.

In 2023, aged 37, he became Cambridge’s youngest Black professor when he was appointed professor of sociology of education.

His work focused heavily on race, education and inequality, and his appointment was widely regarded as a significant milestone.

But questions about his academic work intensified this year.

Allegations were made that passages of his 2015 PhD thesis at Liverpool John Moores University contained material taken from other sources without adequate attribution.

Further questions were subsequently raised about other academic publications and claims Prof Arday had made concerning his personal achievements.

Prof Arday denied deliberately plagiarising his doctoral thesis.

Liverpool John Moores University examined concerns about his PhD and said its investigation found no evidence of research misconduct.

However, it identified poor academic practice and said there were passages that should have been cited more appropriately.

Prof Arday acknowledged errors in his thesis but rejected claims that he had intentionally deceived people.

Questions also emerged about other parts of the story he had publicly told about his life.

Among the claims subjected to scrutiny were accounts of extraordinary fundraising and endurance achievements, including that he had raised millions of pounds for charity and completed hundreds of miles of running over a period of days.

The controversy eventually led Cambridge to announce an investigation into his appointment and tenure at the university.

Prof Arday resigned before that process had been completed.

Cambridge subsequently announced that an independent inquiry would examine the circumstances surrounding his appointment.

Jesus College had also been examining allegations before his death.

Sir Simon said the original plagiarism accusations had developed into something far broader than an examination of academic standards.

He said Prof Arday had become a “lightning rod” for arguments surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

Sir Simon said: “Jason was being used as almost like a lightning rod to examine this policy of DEI, and Jason was bombarded by every media outlet to paint him as a fraud.”

The plagiarism allegations were initially promoted by academic Nathan Cofnas, who has described himself as a “race realist”.

Sir Simon said Prof Arday then faced scrutiny that went beyond his academic work and into almost every aspect of his background.

Following his death, Prof Arday’s family issued a statement through his publisher, Simon & Schuster UK.

They said they were “in shock” at losing a man they described as an “amazing father, partner, brother, uncle and son”.

They also claimed he had been subjected to sustained abuse since taking up his Cambridge position.

“Jason was subjected to a campaign of sustained abuse for the more than three years since he accepted the role of professor at Cambridge University by those who would leave no stone unturned in their quest to undermine him,” the family said.

“The campaign of misinformation was too much for Jason, who was a gentle man and who always wanted to see the best in everyone.”

His family asked to be left alone and called for what they described as a “campaign of harassment” against Prof Arday and his relatives to end.

Cambridge vice-chancellor Professor Deborah Prentice said the university was “desperately saddened” by his death.

“Our heartfelt sympathies go to Jason Arday’s family and friends at this incredibly difficult time,” she said.

National Education Union general secretary Daniel Kebede also issued a strongly worded statement following the death, arguing Prof Arday had been subjected to a “public and brutal takedown that unleashed a tirade of racism”.

He said he did not believe the controversy could be viewed solely as an argument about plagiarism or professional conduct.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham described Prof Arday’s death as a “tragedy on so many levels” and called for reflection on the events preceding it.

The competing claims surrounding Prof Arday’s academic record had not been fully resolved when he died.

Cambridge’s independent inquiry into his appointment had only recently been announced, while other institutions connected to his academic career had been examining issues raised by the controversy.

Sir Simon said those investigations should be allowed to establish the facts while also examining the wider circumstances surrounding what happened.

“We need to let the investigations proceed, we need to understand how this tragedy has happened,” he said.

“But there has to be accountability at lots of levels.”

Police have not announced a cause of death.

The Metropolitan Police has said the death remains unexpected but is not believed to be suspicious.