Al-Fayed survivors say UK police missing ‘bigger picture’

The families of victims who allege abuse by the late Egyptian tycoon Mohamed Al-Fayed say the Metropolitan Police in the UK is overlooking the bigger picture of human trafficking and exploitation. At least seven women, recognized by the UK Home Office as victims of modern slavery, claim they were coerced into various forms of abuse by Al-Fayed, who died in 2023 without facing charges.

These women, who worked for Al-Fayed in his businesses including Harrods, the Ritz hotel, and Fulham Football Club, say their experiences were similar and they feel let down by the police's investigation. The police have launched Operation Cornpoppy, but survivors allege they were not flagged as potential trafficking victims. The Home Office has since recognized the abuse of six of these women, including Isabella, who only realized her situation as human trafficking years later.

The Met acknowledges it was not initially prepared for the scale of the investigation and has since identified at least 70 potential victims, planning to refer them to the National Referral Mechanism. However, survivors and legal experts are skeptical about the police's approach, questioning why it took until 2026 for formal recognition and referral of their cases, given that they had been reporting the abuse to the Met since 2017.