Mohamed Al Fayed, the late former owner of Harrods, may have evaded prosecution for numerous sexual offenses by pretending to have dementia, according to his son, Omar Fayed. Omar alleges that his father, who died at 94 last year, used the false claim of mental incapacity to avoid criminal charges and continue his business dealings as usual.
In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, Omar Fayed, 37, compared his father’s actions to those of a Nazi war criminal, suggesting that the authorities failed to investigate fully when allegations of sexual abuse first emerged. He claimed that those around his father “got him off the hook” by asserting he was mentally unfit to stand trial, despite him remaining mentally sharp afterward.
Omar also expressed regret that the investigation into his father’s alleged crimes did not proceed before his death, which has now allowed a wider array of allegations to resurface. Police are investigating claims that Al Fayed may have sexually assaulted at least 111 women and girls over a span of nearly four decades.
One woman, Cheska Hill-Wood, who accused Fayed of sexual assault in 1993, described how the businessman made unwanted advances when she was a 17-year-old aspiring actor. She added that it was “appalling” to learn of Fayed’s apparent use of illness as a defense against facing justice.
Fayed had previously been the subject of a 2017 Channel 4 documentary, which accused him of sexually harassing young women, including a 17-year-old he recruited. Attempts to block the documentary were made, citing his alleged dementia.
In response to Omar Fayed’s comments, the Metropolitan Police declined to comment on the claims of fraudulence surrounding his father’s dementia diagnosis but acknowledged the impact of the case. They emphasized that extensive investigations into Fayed had been conducted, though there were shortcomings in victim support.
