Complaints were filed in 2009 and 2015, but the Crown decided not to proceed with a court case as there was “no realistic prospect” of conviction.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) twice opted not to prosecute Mohamed Al Fayed after reviewing evidence presented by the police on the former Harrods owner.
Details of the allegations were handed to the CPS in 2009 and 2015, yet prosecution was not pursued due to the lack of “a realistic prospect of conviction” against the late Egyptian billionaire.
Five women have now come forward through the BBC with claims they were raped by Al Fayed, who passed away last year at the age of 94, with others alleging sexual misconduct.
Their legal team announced in a press conference recently that they are pursuing civil action against Harrods for allegedly neglecting to protect their employees and “enabling” the alleged assaults by “covering up” for their former owner.
File ‘Didn’t Cross PM’s Desk’
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was head of the CPS as director of public prosecutions (DPP) from 2008 to 2013, when the first police file was presented. A Downing Street spokesman confirmed that Starmer did not deal with Al Fayed’s case, stating it “did not cross his desk.”
The 2008 allegation investigated by the police was made by a 15-year-old girl, according to media reports at the time.
Sir Max Hill, KC, director of public prosecutions from 2018 to 2023, stated that there was not “sufficient evidence” to prosecute Al Fayed in 2009 and 2015, and the case did not come to his attention during his CPS tenure.
A statement from the CPS said: “We reviewed files of evidence presented by the police in 2009 and 2015.
“To bring a prosecution, the CPS must be confident there is a realistic prospect of conviction—in each instance, our prosecutors carefully examined the evidence and determined this was not the case.”
In 2018, 2021, and 2023, the CPS provided early investigative advice to the Metropolitan Police after allegations against Al Fayed were made.
The CPS indicated that in each of these cases, a full file was not submitted to them, which is necessary for the Crown to be formally involved in a case.
The Metropolitan Police mentioned that it had investigated “various allegations of sexual offences made over a number of years” about Al Fayed, but no charges resulted from these investigations.
They added that “if any further information comes to light, it will be assessed and investigated accordingly.”
A Downing Street spokesperson clarified that “Keir did not handle this case. It did not cross his desk.”
Starmer has previously faced criticism, including from former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, for the CPS decision not to prosecute prolific paedophile Jimmy Savile.
The prime minister, as DPP, apologized for the CPS’s failure to act on Savile but clarified that it was not his personal decision to drop the case against the late DJ and TV presenter.
‘Work to be Done’
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner expressed concern about a culture of “powerful people who seem to get away with it” in response to the allegations about Al Fayed.
She mentioned, “I think the CPS has said that they didn’t have the evidence at the time. I’m not au fait with all of the details.
“But what really concerns me, and it seems to come up time and time again, is powerful people who seem to get away with it.”
Rayner added, “I think there’s a lot of work that needs to be done to make sure that nobody is above the law and can hide in plain sight.”
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Lawyers representing the alleged victims confirmed on Saturday that they have “had over 150 new inquiries” since the broadcasting of the documentary on Al Fayed last Thursday.
The inquiries relate to a “mix of survivors and individuals with evidence about Al Fayed,” a statement from the team confirmed.
The allegations against Al Fayed circulated for many years during his lifetime. As early as December 1997, the ITV current affairs programme “The Big Story” aired testimonies from former Harrods employees who spoke of how the businessman routinely harassed women.
Harrods has been settling with female former employees who claim they were victims of its former owner since 2023, with non-disclosure agreements typically part of their settlements.
The upscale retailer, currently owned by Qatar Holding—a subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund of the state of Qatar—acknowledged in a statement last week that the business was “appalled” by the allegations against Al Fayed.
The statement added: “We also acknowledge that during this time as a business, we failed our employees who were his victims, and for this we sincerely apologize.
“The Harrods of today is a very different organization from the one owned and controlled by Al Fayed between 1985 and 2010; it is one that seeks to prioritize the welfare of our employees in all that we do.”
The first hints of sexual impropriety against Al Fayed surfaced in the media in late 1997, shortly after the deaths of his eldest son, Dodi Fayed, and Princess Diana in a car crash in Paris. Al Fayed maintained until his death last year that the couple’s deaths were the result of a conspiracy orchestrated by the British government.
PA Media contributed to this article
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