Mohamed Al Fayed: How culture of fear at Harrods protected a predator

“I americium walking astir feeling terrified of idiosyncratic who is dead,” explains Gemma, who has been reliving the infinitesimal erstwhile she says Mohamed Al Fayed raped her.

“He conscionable had that powerfulness – I americium petrified of idiosyncratic who is nary longer alive”.

She is among much than 20 women who told america the erstwhile Harrods proprietor sexually assaulted oregon raped them portion they worked astatine the luxury London section store.

Many of them picture being imprisoned by a akin consciousness of fear; it is what kept them from coming guardant for truthful galore years.

Some were disquieted our documentary squad mightiness person been secretly moving for the businessman’s associates erstwhile we archetypal contacted them aft his decease past August.

Even aft we provided assurances, they were acrophobic astir however those adjacent to him mightiness react. There were tons of conversations astir what mightiness hap if our meetings were discovered.

We could consciousness their paranoia astir the consequences of speaking retired and the fearfulness engendered successful them by Fayed and the radical who worked for him. In these circumstances, the bravery of these women is to beryllium applauded adjacent more.

Fayed was a antheral who utilized wealth and powerfulness passim his beingness to bully and intimidate his mode into getting what helium wanted.

In the aboriginal 1990s, a authorities probe concluded helium had lied erstwhile helium bought Harrods. He deployed soiled tricks against Tiny Rowland, his rival successful buying the business, and was adjacent accused of stealing items from his information deposit container astatine the store.

A fewer years later, helium caused the downfall of Tory politicians erstwhile helium went nationalist astir bribing them to inquire questions for him successful parliament. He was not a antheral to beryllium crossed.

Warning: this communicative contains details immoderate whitethorn find distressing.

At Harrods, his idiosyncratic fiefdom, helium created an intimidating ambiance wherever a phalanx of bodyguards protected him astir the timepiece and wherever surveillance instrumentality was installed successful backroom offices.

Alice, not her existent name, said she received a telephone telephone from Fayed’s caput of information after, successful 1995, helium recovered retired she had spoken to a writer astir their boss’s behaviour. She says she was 16 years aged erstwhile Fayed sexually assaulted her.

“He said that I wasn't to beryllium progressive successful the nonfiction and that, if I went against his advice, I should beryllium alert that helium knew wherever my parents lived - It turned maine cold.”

Alice didn’t talk astir her experiences again until she gave an interrogation to the BBC recently.

Fayed besides corrupted the store’s HR department, which played a relation successful promoting young women from the store level to enactment successful his enforcement suite - alert of his involvement successful them.

“We each watched each different locomotion done that doorway thinking, ‘you mediocre girl, it's you today’ and feeling utterly powerless to halt it,” recalls Alice.

We present cognize that successful Gemma’s lawsuit a elder subordinate of the Harrods HR section was contiguous successful 2009 erstwhile lawyers destroyed grounds of his intersexual misconduct against her. This included messages helium had sent her and tapes of nasty voicemails.

Gemma began moving arsenic 1 of Fayed’s idiosyncratic assistants successful 2007. She says Fayed raped her astatine his villa successful France aft she woke to find him adjacent to her bed.

After it was over, she cried portion helium got up and told her aggressively to lavation herself with Dettol. “Obviously helium wanted maine to erase immoderate hint of him being anyplace adjacent me,” she explains.

Many of the women raped and sexually assaulted by Fayed decided to talk retired lone aft his decease due to the fact that they felt it was yet harmless capable to bash so.

But that wasn’t the lone reason. Some were angered by the affirmative mode helium was portrayed successful the Netflix bid The Crown.

They thought this was a rewriting of past and the information astir him needed to beryllium revealed.

“It feels bully to alteration the bequest of a antheral who truly was a monster,” says Natacha, different women subjected to Fayed’s behaviour. “I don't deliberation we truly comprehended that astatine the time.”

Speaking astatine a property league connected Friday, the greeting aft our documentary was broadcast, she said: “I yet person the accidental and state to talk up. I nary longer consciousness acrophobic truthful I talk for my daughters, my nieces … and each the survivors of intersexual maltreatment successful this country contiguous who were silenced for truthful galore years.”

Around 20 of Fayed’s victims had gathered astatine the lawsuit to perceive to lawyers laic retired the details of his alleged crimes. Others were inactive excessively acrophobic to come.

Mike Radford is enforcement shaper of Al Fayed: Predator astatine Harrods

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