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Mohamed Al Fayed was “quite simply, a monster”, says a barrister representing women who allege they were variously raped and sexually assaulted by the former Harrods owner.
Mr Al Fayed died last year at the age of 94 – but Dean Armstrong KC told the press conference the case against him was “horrific”, combining elements of those involving Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein”.
He said: “I have many years of practice… I have never seen a case as horrific as this.
“This case combines some of the most horrific elements of the cases involving Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein.
“Savile because in this case, as in that, the institution, we say, knew about the behaviour.
“Epstein because in that case, as in this, there was a procurement system in place to source the women and girls – as you know there are some very young victims.
“And Weinstein, because it was a person at the very top of the organisation who was abusing his power.
“We will say plainly, that Mohammed Al Fayed was a monster.”
Mr Armstrong KC said it is time Harrods “took responsibility” and “set matters right”.
He told the press conference: “We are here to say publicly and to the world, or to Harrods in front of the world, that it is time that they took responsibility, and it is time that they set matters right, and that is something they should do as soon as possible.
“They need to face up to accept the responsibility, that they have full culpability for the abuse that these women suffered.
“Today, we are going to set out our claim and how our claim shows an abject failure of corporate responsibility and a failure to provide a safe system of work.”
Fellow barrister Bruce Drummond told the press conference said it is “one of the worst cases of corporate sexual exploitation” that he and “perhaps the world has ever seen”.
He said: “This is one of the worst cases of corporate sexual exploitation that certainly I, and perhaps the world has ever seen.
“It was absolutely horrific and I can’t stress that word enough.”
He added that “the system that procured them was enabling the abuse”.
Mr Drummond said some of Mr Al Fayed’s accusers have ended up in “psychiatric care”.
He added: “This should never have happened and Harrods must accept responsibility for the damage these women have suffered.”
Several of Mr Al Fayed’s accusers also spoke at the press conference.
One, who went by the name Natacha, said: “Mohamed was clever and highly manipulative. He behaved like a father figure, often saying ‘call me papa’, often talking about his family and children, as if to make me feel safe around him.”
She continued: “Unbeknownst to me, I had walked into a lion’s den, a layer of cover-ups, deceit, lies, manipulation, humiliation, and gross sexual misconduct. The chairman preyed on the most vulnerable, those of us who needed to pay the rent and some of us who didn’t have parents to protect them.”
A statement issued by Harrods after a BBC Panorama documentary yesterday stated: “We are utterly appalled by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by Mohamed Al Fayed. These were the actions of an individual who was intent on abusing his power wherever he operated and we condemn them in the strongest terms.
“We also acknowledge that during this time as a business we failed our employees who were his victims and for this we sincerely apologise.
“The Harrods of today is a very different organisation to the one owned and controlled by Al Fayed between 1985 and 2010, it is one that seeks to put the welfare of our employees at the heart of everything we do.
“This is why, since new information came to light in 2023 about historic allegations of sexual abuse by Al Fayed, it has been our priority to settle claims in the quickest way possible, avoiding lengthy legal proceedings for the women involved. This process is still available for any current or former Harrods employees – please go to https://response.harrods.com for further information.
“While we cannot undo the past, we have been determined to do the right thing as an organisation, driven by the values we hold today, while ensuring that such behaviour can never be repeated in the future.”
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