Former University of Cambridge professor Jason Arday has been found dead at a property in London, police have said.

The academic was pronounced dead after being found “unresponsive” at an address in Battersea, south London, on Friday.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police has said officers were alerted on the death by the London Ambulance Service at 3.12pm on Friday.

A force spokesman said: “Sadly, a 41-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. His next-of-kin have been informed and are being supported by officers.

“At this time his death is being treated as unexpected, but is not believed to be suspicious. The case is being investigated by officers from the Met’s Central South Command Unit. A file will be prepared for the coroner.”

Prof Arday, a professor of sociology of education who became Cambridge’s youngest black professor in 2023, quit following a series of media reports alleging he plagiarised his PhD thesis – completed at Liverpool John Moores University – and other research.

Further questions were asked in the press about the truth of other claims he made, including saying he ran 600 miles in six days and that he had raised £5.5 million for charity.

An investigation at Liverpool John Moores University cleared Prof Arday of wrongdoing.

Durham and Glasgow universities are investigating the circumstances around Prof Arday’s appointment to academic posts there .

Prof Arday said in his open resignation letter that the “only way to bring this chapter to an end is to step away”.

He said: “This decision should not be interpreted as a loss of faith in scholarship or in the values that first brought me to Cambridge.

“Nor should it be mistaken for an acceptance of the narratives that have surrounded me.

“It is simply the decision of someone who has reached the limits of what any person should reasonably be expected to endure.”