Mohamed Al-Fayed allegations ‘raise questions’ about Met Police practice

Yesterday, Fulham football club, who were owned by Al-Fayed for 16 years, issued a statement in which they said they were “profoundly troubled” to hear that former captain of the women’s team Ronnie Gibbons’ account of abuse she suffered.

The CPS has stated that it made a charging decision on two allegations of sexual assault in relation to one female complainant.

In 2015, it made a charging decision on one allegation of rape and an allegation of aiding and abetting rape by one female suspect. These allegations related to a different female complainant.

This means that in 19 cases, the Met did not pass files detailing the alleged abuse to the CPS.

Crucially, in the two cases it did pass to the CPS, it did not detail the other allegations made against Al-Fayed.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Zoe Billingham, a former inspector at the police regulator, described the revelations as “shocking”.

She said: “It beggars belief that 21 women came forward to the Met with presumably very similar allegations about a wealthy man in a position of extreme power and authority and yet nothing happened, again.

“There should have been a full investigation. And this raises questions…. Were the police building a proper file for the prosecution in the first place?”

She added: “There is a broader question here – that’s the question of culture. At that time, and perhaps even now, were woman coming forward with these types of allegations being taken seriously, were they being listen too or were they being fobbed off.”

A Scotland Yard spokesperson told the BBC: “We are carrying out full reviews of all existing allegations reported to us about Al Fayed to ensure there are no new lines of enquiry based on new information which has emerged.

“This includes liaising with the Directorate of Professional Standards where appropriate.”