Police investigated journalist who tried to expose the fantasist Cambridge professor. Scotland Yard investigated a journalist who tried to expose a plagiarism row and told him to stop asking Professor Jason Arday questions. Times Higher Education (THE) journalist Jack Grove was accused of harassment after emailing Professor Arday a series of legitimate questions about his academic record. Arday instructed the law firm Carter-Ruck, which suggested in a letter to THE that its “apparent attack” on him “may be… racially motivated”. Arday has claimed that he did not speak before his 12th birthday, could not read or write until he was 18, completed 30 marathons in 30 days, and appeared on a TV show that aired 20 years before he was born. The Met Police spent four months investigating the harassment allegation against Mr Grove. Mr Grove was never interviewed and only discovered the investigation after officers informed him they would be taking no further action. It is also reported that the Met passed a complaint to another police force about an academic who was also looking into Professor Arday’s record, but that force declined to investigate. The Free Speech Union is well aware of the Met’s penchant for wasting time on investigations into non-crimes while claiming it lacks the resources to tackle real crime. Mr Grove told The Telegraph: “I was told a complaint had been made against me and investigated, but the force was not taking it forward. The officer told me that I shouldn’t contact Professor Arday again because his mental health had been affected by my actions. “I asked him what I had done, and he said there had been online posts about Professor Arday. I said I’d never posted anything about him and asked him if he realised he was speaking to a journalist investigating a story. He didn’t really respond but repeated his request that I not contact Professor Arday again, citing his mental health. “I was just doing my job. Journalists should be free to ask questions of anyone, even star professors. It’s very rare for academics to refuse to speak to the press – that prompted me to look into this matter further, and I was astonished by what I found.” It is astonishing that the police still cannot comprehend the importance of free speech and a free press. Scotland Yard investigating a journalist for asking legitimate questions in the public interest is deeply disturbing. Read more below 👇

🚨🚨 BREAKING NEWS: Animal rights campaigner, Anneka Svenska, was visited at home by two police officers and told to accept a police record, attend an “online thinking” course, or face arrest following comments she made on social media about the incineration of beagles at a company that breeds the dogs for use in medical research. The police alleged that she had committed a crime under the Online Safety Act. Anneka refused to accept this “community resolution disposal”, which would have remained on her police record, and, after she engaged a lawyer, the case has now been dropped. Section 179 of the Online Safety Act was introduced by the last Conservative Government and made it a crime, punishable by up to 51 weeks in prison, to knowingly spread false information likely to cause harm. While the Bill was going through Parliament, the FSU warned it might be weaponised in this way to silence legitimate political speech. Anneka doesn’t believe the information she spread about the company was false. In fact, she has documentary evidence which she says substantiates her claims. Until the Online Safety Act was passed, the company unhappy about comments like this would have had to bring a defamation claim in the civil courts. Now, it seems, hurty words online can quickly become a police matter – and it seems that companies are now making criminal complaints as part of their brand protection strategies. If you are visited by the police for a speech matter, we’d urge you to take specialist legal advice before accepting any form of caution or submitting to a re-education course. Members of the Free Speech Union can ask for our help if they find themselves in a similar situation.