Alleged victims welcome news the Crown Prosecution Service will decide whether or not to bring charges against a man in his 80s over two alleged indecent assaults in London
Cops probing sex assault claims against late Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed have taken the ‘significant step’ of sending a file of evidence to prosecutors, alleged victims said.
Crown Prosecution Service lawyers will now consider whether to bring any charges against the suspect – a man in his 80s. The submitted evidence relates to two alleged indecent assaults in London.
The Metropolitan Police emailed Al-Fayed survivor groups saying it had submitted a file for a decision on whether to bring criminal charges against the suspect.
The email said: “The file relates to one suspect, a man in his 80s, and relates to two indecent assaults on two women in London. Officers will continue to work closely with CPS prosecutors as the case progresses.”
It added seven suspects – four women and three men aged from their 40s to 80s – have been interviewed under caution on suspicion of offences including aiding and abetting rape and sexual assault, assisting in the commission of sex crimes and human trafficking for sexual exploitation.
“This remains a complex and highly sensitive investigation,” the police email said.
“Our focus is on pursuing all available lines of enquiry, maintaining the integrity of the investigation, and supporting those who have come forward.”
Justice for Fayed and Harrods Survivors co-chairs Jen Mills and Lindsay Mason said the submission was a ‘significant step’, adding ‘age should never be a shield from accountability’.
“Survivors have spent decades either not being believed or being told that Fayed and those around him were too powerful and that nothing could be done,” they said.
“But today is an important reminder that the passage of time does not, by itself, put accountability beyond reach.”
They added the wider investigation into who facilitated Al-Fayed’s offending ‘must continue wherever the evidence leads’.
A spokesman from Al-Fayed survivor group No One Above said: “We call on the Met to confirm it is securing evidence on all perpetrators and co-conspirators – including the financial and documentary evidence of how victims were recruited, screened, moved, harboured and silenced.”
No One Above has also asked the Met to confirm human trafficking and modern slavery are the primary framework of the investigation, financial investigators have been brought in to follow the money that funded and concealed the network, and all documentary evidence of the network’s operations is being actively secured.
More than 400 allegations of sexual misconduct have been made against the former Harrods boss from 1977 to 2014 including sex assault, rape, sexual exploitation and human trafficking.
An investigation – codenamed Operation Cornpoppy – was launched in 2024 and is looking at people who may have facilitated or enabled Al-Fayed’s crimes.
The Met has been contacted directly by at least 156 alleged victims including 21 who came forward when the luxury store boss was still alive.
He sold Harrods in 2010 and died aged 94 in 2023 without facing any charges.
The CPS has not given a timescale on when it will reach its charging decision.
The news comes a fortnight after the Met apologised for accidentally exposing the email addresses of 143 alleged Al-Fayed victims.
In a group update about its investigation the force copied the email addresses of survivors in a message that included around a dozen other recipients.
The force said it understood the ‘impact this may have on victims’ and blamed ‘human error’ for the incident which has been referred to the information commissioner.