UK: Police Open Investigation of Alleged Al Fayed Abuse Associates

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Facts

  • London's Metropolitan Police said Wednesday that it has launched a new investigation into individuals associated with Mohammed Al Fayed — the late billionaire owner of Harrods between 1985 and 2010 who faces dozens of allegations of sexual abuse. He died aged 94 last year.[1][2]
  • Following a public appeal, a total of 90 people have been identified as potential victims, with some reporting multiple offenses. While acknowledging that it did not pursue Al Fayed's prosecution while he was alive, police said a dedicated unit was investigating all lines of inquiry and looking into individuals who may have facilitated the alleged criminality.[1][3]
  • The police appeal came after a BBC report last month revealed the presence of 21 women with testimony of sexual abuse — including allegations of rape and sexual assault — who had previously reported their accounts to the Metropolitan Police without them resulting in a criminal case for Al Fayed.[2][4]
  • In this week's statement, Stephen Clayman, commander of the force's specialist crime command, said: "This investigation is about giving survivors a voice, despite the fact that Mohamed Al Fayed is no longer alive to face prosecution."[1]
  • The potential crimes spanned between 1977 and 2014, according to the police, while media reports claim that one victim was 13 years-old when she was allegedly targeted.[5][6]

Sources: [1]London Metropolitan Police, [2]BBC News (a), [3]Forbes, [4]BBC News (b), [5]Sky News and [6]The Standard.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by London Metropolitan Police. While the police knows that their failure to prosecute Al Fayed in the past has impacted the public's trust, the force is committed to rebuilding that relationship by prosecuting all who aided and abetted his crimes, as well as taking a full accounting within the force's own ranks to see if there were lessons to be learned or any missed opportunities.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by The Guardian and The Guardian. A large reason that Al Fayed was able to get away with his crimes is that corrupt police officers helped scare the sex abuser's victims into dropping their cases. Now that it transpires Al Fayed was one of the UK's most notorious sex offenders with hundreds of victims, while some justice may be found for those who were abused, the police investigation remains too little, too late.