Over 400 people have come forward with Mohamed al Fayed allegations, survivors group says

A group representing alleged victims of Mohamed al Fayed has said it has been contacted by more than 400 people, including further alleged victims and witnesses.

The Justice for Harrods Survivors group said it was contacted by people from Harrods and Fulham FC, both of which Fayed previously owned, and "various places" associated with the businessman.

It follows a string of allegations against the billionaire, who died last year, after a BBC documentary about his behaviour in which several women accused him of abuse.

The allegations include serial rape, attempted rape, sexual battery and sexual abuse of minors.

Speaking at a news conference in London on Thursday, lawyers Dean Armstrong KC, Bruce Drummond and Maria Mulla, said the survivors group is now dealing with 421 inquiries concerning Fayed.

"We now have clients who have suffered abuse at Harrods, at Fulham Football Club, at the hands of Al Fayed and at various places associated with [him]," Mr Armstrong said.

"We have been contacted by over 400 people... not all survivors, some witnesses... but we are currently engaged with 400 people who have been impacted by this abuse."

Mr Armstrong said the first letter of claim on behalf of one person has been sent to Harrods, "beginning the formal legal process" of the case. He said that letter will be "followed by hundreds more".

'Industrial scale of abuse'

The group said the majority of claims made against Fayed have come from the UK, but there are also claims from the US, Canada, Asia, Australia and other parts of Europe.

"That, in our opinion, is an industrial scale of abuse," Mr Drummond said, adding: "Abuse that could have only been perpetrated with a system that enabled the abuse to happen.

"That is what is so key to this case and why this case, in many ways, is the worst case of corporate sexual abuse of women that the world has ever known."

He said the group has "credible evidence" that Fayed carried out alleged abuse at a number of locations linked to his business empire, including his residence in Park Lane in London, his estate in Surrey, his aircraft, the Ritz Hotel in Paris and on his private yacht.

"Every young lady in his orbit was a target," Mr Drummond said.

One of those who has alleged to have been abused by Fayed is Paul Gascoigne's daughter, Bianca.

Speaking to Sky News earlier this month she said she was groomed and sexually assaulted by the former Harrods owner when she worked at the London department store as a teenager.

Former Fulham Women captain Ronnie Gibbons also alleged she was twice sexually assaulted.

Those are in addition to 21 women who went to the Metropolitan Police between 2005 and 2023 with sex crime allegations against the businessman.

Harrods has previously said it is "utterly appalled" by the claims of abuse and said it is a "very different organisation to the one owned and controlled by Fayed between 1985 and 2010".

(c) Sky News 2024: Over 400 people have come forward with Mohamed al Fayed allegations, survivors group says