Gavin Grey: UK Correspondent on the sexual abuse and rape allegations against Mohamed Al-Fayed

A former department store owner is said to have raped and sexually assaulted a string of women who worked for the chain. 

More than 20 women have claimed they were sexually assaulted by former Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed, five of whom have said they were raped. 

The women say the assaults were carried out at the company’s offices, in Al-Fayed’s apartment in London, or on trips overseas.  

UK Correspondent Gavin Grey told Ryan Bridge that Harrods not only failed to intervene, but also helped cover up abuse allegations when Al-Fayed was in charge. 

The department store’s current owners say they’re “utterly appalled” by the allegations, and the store sincerely apologises. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Devin Gray is how UKN and Europe correspondent Five women
say that they've been raped by the former Herod's boss,
Muhammad al Fayed, of course, father of Dodie al Fayed Gevin.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Yes, indeed run so. Muhammed al Fayed was a very
colorful figure. He died last year at the age of
ninety four. Colorful figure because for many years he ran
the luxury London department store. Harold's became sort of a
bit of a TV personality as well, ingratiated himself with
the royal family and of course, as you said, his
son later died in a car crash, having been partnered

(00:35):
alongside Diana, the Princess of Wales back in nineteen ninety seven. Indeed,
the new generation beginning to know the al Fayheds through
the series of The Crown. But it is tonight Muhammad
al Fhaired and his relationship with his former female ex employees.
They are claiming that the billionaire raped them or at
least sexually assaulted them. Now twenty have come forward in total,

(01:00):
and they say that Harold's not only failed to intervene,
but they actually helped cover up abuse allegations. When al
faired was owning it and in charge of it. Harrod's
current owners say they're utterly apported by the allegations and
that these victims had been jailed for what the store
sincerely apologized and the fired faced sexual assault claims while

(01:21):
he was alive run that these allegations now are much
much more serious and of an unprecedented scale.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
Absolutely he did. The UK prisoners that were released as
part of the overcrowding deal to reduce the numbers in
the prisons, what's happened with their bracelets?

Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yeah, what a very very good question, Ryan. Many of
them were supposed to be wearing these tags, electronic tags,
so that the authorities can keep an on them, they
know where they are and sometimes they have to attend
a police station as well. Of course, some one seven
hundred prisoners were left out early in England and Wales
last week because of overcrowding in prisons. Now we learn

(01:59):
that some of them were released but weren't given electronic
tagging devices despite it being a condition of their release.
The Ministry of Justice is blaming the contractor and saying
there's been a shortage of the tag. So not only
is there a shorten of prison spaces, but they were
still allowed out early, and then we learned as a
shortage of the tags. The contractor says it's doing everything

(02:22):
it can to rectify this. The government is threating some
sort of compensation deal if the situation isn't sorted out either.
But there are some in the justice industry, as that
were in the justice sector, who are saying this is
a disaster waiting to happen, allowing out these people without
a tag. And incidentally, if he wondered, the Chief Inspector

(02:44):
Probation believes about one in three of those released early
will re offend.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
That is the dumbest thing I've heard this morning. Givin
thank you very much to that Kevin Gray, who's a
UK in Europe correspondent. Imagine getting you know, or line
them all up, the doors open and you say, oh, Extal,
we've run out of tag so you can go anyway?
Who made that call?

Speaker 2 (03:08):
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Speaker 1 (03:12):
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