The Metropolitan Police have despatched a file of proof to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) relating to a person in his 80s as a part of its investigation into claims of sexual assault towards Mohamed Al Fayed.
A person and a lady, each of their 80s, have been interviewed underneath warning final month on suspicion of aiding and abetting rape and sexual assault, and helping the fee of sexual offences.
The CPS will now resolve whether or not a cost will be made.
Earlier this yr, three ladies, aged of their 40s, 50s and 60s, and one man in his 60s have been additionally questioned. The former Harrods proprietor died three years in the past aged 94 having by no means confronted any fees.
Al Fayed was accused by greater than 20 ladies of sexual assault in a BBC doc and podcast that aired in September 2024.
Since these allegations greater than 400 alleged victims or witnesses have come forward to lawyers.
A Met Police spokesperson mentioned “detectives submitted a full evidential file” to the CPS for a “charging decision”.
“The file relates to one suspect, a man in his 80s, and relates to two indecent assaults on two women in London. Officers will continue to work closely with CPS prosecutors as the case progresses.
“To date, seven suspects have been interviewed underneath warning on suspicion of offences together with aiding and abetting rape and sexual assault, helping within the fee of sexual offences, and human trafficking for the needs of sexual exploitation.”
Co-chairs of the Justice for Fayed and Harrods Survivors, Jen Mills and Lindsay Mason, welcomed the latest development.
“The submission of a full evidential file to the CPS is a major step, and it issues most of all for the 2 ladies whose allegations are on the centre of it,” the assertion mentioned.
“Both are members of Justice for Fayed and Harrods Survivors and, as with all these impacted by this scandal, we stand alongside them with love and empathy.”
A spokesperson from another Fayed survivor group, No One Above, said: “We name on the Met to affirm it’s securing proof on all perpetrators and co-conspirators – together with the monetary and documentary proof of how victims have been recruited, screened, moved, harboured and silenced.”
Harrods – which was offered by Al Fayed in 2010 – beforehand informed the BBC it was within the technique of settling more than 250 claims for compensation.