The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said it twice did not bring charges against Mohamed Al Fayed over sex abuse claims. Fresh allegations are being made about the late billionaire who owned Harrods and who died last year at the age of 94. A BBC documentary has led to dozens of women coming forward to say they were raped or sexually assaulted by Egyptian businessman Fayed.
The CPS said on Sunday it considered bringing charges against Fayed in 2009 and 2015 - but on both occasions it "concluded there was no realistic prospect of a conviction". In 2008, the Metropolitan Police investigated Fayed after a 15-year-old girl said he sexually assaulted her in the Harrods boardroom. The force said it handed a file of evidence to the CPS - a step which has to be taken before charges can be issued - but prosecutors decided no further action should be taken.
A CPS spokesperson 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 looked carefully at the evidence and concluded this wasn’t the case.” Three other investigations into claims made by three other women - in 2018, 2021 and 2023 - got to an advanced enough stage that the CPS was called in to advise detectives.
But, in those instances a full file of evidence was never passed to prosecutors. Fayed bought Harrods in 1985 and sold it in 2010. More than 20 women have tol.