Met accused of turning a blind eye to Mohamed Al Fayed sex scandal

Police were accused of turning a blind eye to the Mohamed Al Fayed sex scandal last night by seeking prosecutions for only two of the 21 women who lodged complaints about him.

All 21 told the Metropolitan Police they had been assaulted by the billionaire, who died aged 94 in August last year. 

But the Met sought authorisation from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to charge him in just two of the cases, and he was never indicted for any sexual offences.

Zoe Billingham, former inspector with the police watchdog HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, called the revelation ‘shocking’.

She told Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘It beggars belief that 21 women came forward with presumably very similar allegations about a wealthy man in a position of extreme power and authority, and yet nothing happened – again.’

Ms Billingham queried whether police investigated the claims properly: ‘There is a broader question here, the question of culture. At that time, and perhaps even now, were women coming forward with these types of allegations being taken seriously?’

A BBC documentary last month claimed Fayed raped five employees and abused more than 20 other women while owner of Harrods from 1985 to 2010.

The CPS said it looked at evidence against him provided by the Met in 2009 and 2015, and concluded ‘there was no realistic prospect of conviction’. But this related to just two cases.

At least 65 women have contacted the BBC since the documentary aired, with allegations of abuse going back to 1977. Ex-Fulham Ladies football captain Ronnie Gibbons said this week that Fayed groped and tried to ‘forcefully’ kiss her at Harrods on two occasions when she was 20. He owned Fulham from 1997 to 2013.

Met Commander Stephen Clayman said: ‘We continue to explore new lines of inquiry, thoroughly reviewing any new information and assessing whether there are any allegations of criminality which can be pursued.’