Bianca Gascoigne accuses Mohamed Al Fayed of sexual assault

Bianca Gascoigne has alleged that she was groomed and sexually assaulted by erstwhile Harrods brag Mohamed Al Fayed erstwhile she worked astatine the section store arsenic a teenager.

The TV personality, who is the girl of ex-England footballer Paul Gascoigne, was 16 years aged astatine the time, and said Al Fayed would grope her and unit her to buss him.

She told Sky News that she did not talk retired sooner due to the fact that she did not privation to bring "embarrassment and shame".

Gascoigne's comments travel aft Harrods confirmed to the BBC connected Monday that more than 250 radical were present successful its process to settee compensation claims brought by women who allege humanities intersexual misconduct again Al Fayed.

Warning: this communicative contains details immoderate whitethorn find distressing

The 37-year-old world TV prima and DJ told the broadcaster she utilized to sojourn the luxury section store with her parents erstwhile she was increasing up, and described Fayed arsenic "charming" and "personable", saying helium utilized to bring the household gifts.

"He utilized to archer maine however overmuch of a atrocious begetter my dada was, due to the fact that helium utilized to travel into the store drunk," she said.

"He utilized to archer maine that helium was an embarrassment, that I should look to him arsenic a begetter figure."

She added she felt a "false consciousness of information with him aboriginal doors".

Gascoigne joined Harrods arsenic a store level idiosyncratic but was aboriginal promoted to her "dream " occupation of becoming a manner buyer.

But she said Al Fayed would grope her and unit her to buss him during their play meetings.

On 1 occasion, Gascoigne was offered the accidental to enactment successful the Harrods Park Lane flat earlier an aboriginal greeting enactment flight.

But erstwhile Al Fayed turned up astatine the apartment, she said she was "gobsmacked", "shell-shocked" and did not cognize what to do.

"He came in, and past helium sat maine down connected the sofa and was evidently precise forceful with the touching and the kissing," she said.

"He got his privates retired and got my manus and was trying to manoeuvre it connected his parts, and erstwhile that didn't work, helium was trying to unit my caput connected his lap."

She said she managed to "wiggle away" and the brushwood was "horrific".

She thinks Al Fayed knowing who her parents were was what saved her successful the moment.

"He was doing each these things to maine and I was adjacent to radical that helium knew, and I felt similar I couldn't adjacent archer them either due to the fact that I didn't privation to bring embarrassment and shame," she said, adding that not adjacent her mum and dada knew what was going on.

Gascoigne said she was besides frightened of losing her job, and that Al Fayed had warned her that she would if she said anything.

Gascoigne, who gave commencement to a girl past year, said she was compelled to speech astir her acquisition aft respective victims went nationalist with their stories of maltreatment astatine the hands of Al Fayed.

"I consciousness similar I person to bash this, I privation to bash this, and I privation to basal for the women and conscionable hopefully marque immoderate benignant of alteration (so) that successful the future, my girl wouldn't person to spell done thing similar this," she said.

Lawyers from the Justice for Harrods Survivors group, who correspond the accusers of the erstwhile Harrods boss, person praised Gascoigne for her bravery, adding they are "proud to correspond her and our different survivors arsenic we determination guardant unneurotic successful our quest for justice".

The BBC has approached Gascoigne for further comment.

Al Fayed, who died past twelvemonth aged 94, is accused of intersexual misconduct by respective women who worked for him - galore of whom felt incapable to study what had happened until recently.

At the clip of galore of the alleged attacks, the billionaire businessman was the proprietor of Harrods, the Ritz Paris edifice and shot nine Fulham FC.

The BBC heard grounds from much than 20 pistillate ex-employees astatine Harrods during its probe for the documentary and podcast - Al Fayed: Predator astatine Harrods.

The documentary, which aired past month, claimed that during Fayed's ownership, Harrods not lone failed to intervene but helped screen up maltreatment allegations.

Responding to the investigation, Harrods' existent owners said they were “utterly appalled” by the allegations and that his victims had been failed - for which the store sincerely apologised.

If you are affected by issues of intersexual battle you tin interaction the BBC Action Line here.