Ex-Imperial lecturer arrested

Ex-Imperial lecturer Manoj Sen was arrested at his home in North West London on 10th November, and taken to Colindale Police Station, where he was questioned, before being served a caution.

Two days prior, Sen apologised for making a series of antisemitic comments on Facebook, including calling Jewish people ‘circumcised vermin’. Sen told Felix that he was very sorry for his remarks, calling them “a lapse for which I sincerely apologise and regret.”

He launched into the antisemitic tirade after a Dr Benjamin Zachariah questioned his sobriety.

‘Hope they hound you out from wherever you are Jewboy,’ he told Zachariah, before using a slogan adopted by the Nazi-era newspaper Der Stürmer as its motto. During World War II, Der Stürmer regularly published articles calling for the genocide of the ‘Jewish race’.

In an email to Felix this Monday, Sen wrote:

‘I had entered into an altercation with someone I knew who happened to be a Jew and whose family has been well known to me for thirty years. This altercation had nothing whatsoever to do with the current Middle East conflict or Jews in general. Indeed I count Jewish people as my close friends.’

‘The antisemitic words I used were directed against one individual (whom I shall not name) who insulted me online in public. However the words I used were ill judged and for which I have issued verbal, online and written apologies.’

‘I had retired from all clinical work due to ill health and had made the decision to do so in June 2023 and my last activity as Honorary Senior Lecturer at Imperial was back in 2017. I had not been "fired”.’

‘I sincerely regretted and apologized for any feelings I may have caused to anyone, specifically the Jewish people.’

‘I am now back to leading a quiet, retired life with my ongoing health problems my most immediate concern. Once again my deepest apologies to the Jewish people.’

Sen was an Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer in Imperial’s Faculty of Medicine until 2020, and before his retirement last month, was a colorectal surgeon at Northwick Park Hospital.

‘We do not tolerate hate speech or discrimination of any kind and take immediate action when such behaviour is brought to our attention,’ wrote a spokesperson for London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, which operates Northwick Park Hospital.

‘We continue to work closely with our teams to make sure that all our people feel comfortable in reporting unacceptable language or behaviour.’

Imperial referred Felix to a message sent to College members, that said: ‘Any form of racist or hateful behaviour, including antisemitism and Islamophobia, will not be tolerated and all incidents will be taken extremely seriously’.

The Metropolitan Police declined to comment.