Family of alleged Mohamed al Fayed victim says he was reported to police 10 years earlier than Met has admitted
Mohamed al Fayed was reported to police 10 years earlier than previously claimed by Scotland Yard, the family of one of his alleged victims has said.
Relatives of Samantha-Jane Ramsay said she went to the Metropolitan Police in the summer of 1995 after she was allegedly harassed and sexually assaulted by the billionaire while working at his Harrods department store in London.
However, officers told the then 17-year-old it would be "her word against his" and that they would add her allegations to the "pile of others they had", lawyers said.
No action was taken against al Fayed and Ms Ramsay died in 2007 aged 28.
The account contradicts statements by the Met that allegations about al Fayed were reported to the force "between 2005 and 2023".
It comes amid growing criticism and pressure on the force amid claims that officers failed to properly respond to multiple allegations about the businessman when he was alive.
The Met said earlier this month it would launch a "detailed and thorough" review of how it handled the allegations.
A string of claims – including of rape and sexual abuse – against al Fayed, who died last year aged 94, have emerged in recent weeks following an investigation by the BBC.
Ms Ramsay's family said she became so frustrated about the lack of police action that she contacted the News Of The World in 1998 and gave details of the alleged abuse.
She told the newspaper that al Fayed had kissed and touched her inappropriately after summoning her to his office. He handed her £200 before she ran from the room in tears, Ms Ramsay added.
The then teenager reported the incident to her supervisor, but he reportedly sighed and said: "Another one". Ms Ramsay said she was then fired for making a complaint, with both al Fayed and one of his assistants berating her in a final meeting.
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Ms Ramsay then returned to her family home in Hampshire, where her mother Wendy said she also reported the alleged attack to local police.
Efforts to instruct a solicitor were also unsuccessful as the family were told "it wouldn't get anywhere because al Fayed was too powerful," according to the Ramsays' legal representatives Leigh Day.
Ms Ramsay, who later became known as Chelsea Eale, died in a car crash in May 2007.
Her death was ruled an accident but her family have expressed doubts as to whether it was intentional.
Her sister Emma Wills said: "There has always been a niggling feeling that it wasn't an accident because she had made [an] attempt on her life before.
"I do hold al Fayed responsible. I really believe if it hadn't happened to her then her life would have been different. This happened just as she was turning into an adult, this isn't what she should have been dealing with".
She added: "She did all the right things to try and blow the whistle and had the bravery and courage to try to hold al Fayed accountable but no one was interested, no one would help her...
"It really infuriates me that if the police had dealt with it properly back then her life would have been different."
Leigh Day said it had been contacted by more than 100 women about al Fayed, along with Ms Ramsay's relatives. The legal firm said it was supporting their claims for compensation and calls for a statutory inquiry.
Many of the allegations against al Fayed relate to employees at Harrods and Fulham FC, which he owned between 1997 and 2013.
On Thursday, the Justice for Harrods Survivors group said it had been contacted by more than 400 people, including alleged victims and witnesses.
The Met has suggested Ms Ramsay's allegations may not have been transferred to their digital records, because some reports in 1995 were paper-based.
Commander Stephen Clayman, from the Met, said: "While we cannot change what has happened, we do acknowledge that trust and confidence is affected by our approach in the past and we are determined to do better.
"We have made significant changes and progress to deliver better outcomes for victims."
The force has previously said that while it was not possible to bring criminal proceedings against someone who had died, detectives would still "fully explore whether any other individuals could be pursued for any criminal offences".
Harrods has previously said it is "utterly appalled" by the claims and said it is a "very different organisation to the one owned and controlled by Fayed between 1985 and 2010".
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