Detectives probing former Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed have apologised to his alleged victims for their distress.
In a letter leaked to the BBC, the officer leading Scotland Yard’s investigation said she was ‘acutely aware the case is especially distressing to all those who have suffered’.
‘Not least due to the fact that the main suspect will now never directly face justice for his crimes, and for this I am truly sorry,’ Detective Chief Superintendent Angela Craggs wrote.
‘Some of you may have heard, and perhaps experienced dissatisfaction in previous investigations into Al Fayed by the Met and hence may have little confidence in us.’
The force said it could not comment further because it would ‘jeopardise criminal or other proceedings’.
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The BBC reported Scotland Yard would send a video statement addressing questions from the victims individually rather than arrange a meeting due to privacy issues.
(Credits: James Manning/PA Wire)
Two complaints against the Met over its handling of allegations against the former Harrods boss will be investigated by the force itself under the direction of a watchdog.
The Met is currently reviewing a total of 21 allegations that were made before Mr Al Fayed died in 2023, and referred two of these to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) in November.
Alleged victims have repeated calls for a public inquiry into what happened.
More than 100 alleged victims have contacted police to say they were sexually abused by the tycoon, the youngest of whom is thought to have been 13 at the time.
A number of allegations were made against him while he was still alive.
Investigators twice sent files for a charging decision to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) – once in 2008 relating to three alleged victims and again in 2015 linked to one other.
A total of 150 complainants came forward following the airing of a BBC documentary, Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods, in September, the force said.
On another three occasions – in 2018, 2021 and 2023 – the CPS was asked for what is called early investigative advice, but the matters were not pursued further by police.
In November, the Met confirmed that detectives were investigating more than five people who may have facilitated the former Harrods boss in his alleged sexual abuse of dozens of women and girls.
Al Fayed’s network of suspected enablers is said to have included members of his personal security team, the luxury department store’s PR staff and medics hired to test victims for sexually transmitted diseases before he raped them, according to the BBC.
The force is also facing allegations of police corruption, with The Guardian reporting that officers were accused of taking bribes to help him persecute staff and avoid accusations of abuse.