Met Police mistakenly reveals the email addresses of Mohamed Al Fayed's 143 abuse victims

By OLIVIA ALLHUSEN, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER Published: 22:19, 14 August 2026 | Updated: 22:24, 14 August 2026 The Metropolitan Police mistakenly revealed the email addresses of 143 alleged victims of Mohamed Al Fayed in a major data breach. The victims' addresses were exposed after officers copied them into an update about the force's investigation into people suspected of facilitating the late Harrods tycoon's alleged sexual abuse. Their details were visible to everyone on the distribution list, despite most of the victims wishing to remain anonymous. The blunder happened across five separate emails sent on Tuesday, with a total of 159 people included in the correspondence, The Times reported. Scotland Yard has apologised and referred itself to the Information Commissioner's Office over the breach, which it blamed on 'human error'. The emails were sent to update victims on the investigation and revealed that three more suspects, one in their 70s and two in their 80s, had recently been interviewed under caution. It brings the total number of people interviewed under caution as part of the investigation to seven. The Met told The Times: 'Due to human error, recipients' email addresses were visible to others on the distribution list. The issue was identified quickly and immediate action was taken. 'We understand the impact this may have on victims and sincerely apologise. Everyone affected was contacted directly on the day of the incident.' Mohamed Al Fayed, the father of Dodi Fayed who died with Princess Diana in Paris in 1997, arrives at London's High Court, in central London, 14 January 2008 A general view of the Harrods department store in Knightsbridge, central London The force said the breach was being investigated 'as a matter of priority' and that its processes were being reviewed to prevent a similar incident happening again. It is also considering further support for those affected and additional safeguards as its investigation continues. It is not the first time the Met has mistakenly disclosed the personal details of an alleged victim of Al Fayed.  Earlier this year, Joanna Brittan, who says she was trafficked by Al Fayed and raped by one of his associates, discovered that the force had sent sensitive information about her to the wrong person. Brittan gave a statement to Devon & Cornwall Police in 2017 which was later transferred to the Met. But handwritten notes detailing her account, along with her address, phone number and date of birth, were mistakenly sent to another alleged victim living in Australia. Al Fayed, who died in August 2023 aged 94, has been accused of abusing around 400 women and girls between the late 1970s and early 2000s. Many were young employees at his businesses, including Harrods, and some have said they reported concerns to police but were not taken seriously. It previously emerged that the Met was aware of sexual abuse allegations against the Egyptian businessman at least a decade earlier than the force had initially admitted.  After allegations about Al Fayed emerged, Scotland Yard said it had been approached by 21 women over complaints dating back to 2005. But the family of Samantha-Jane Ramsay said she had contacted the Met about her ordeal in 1995, when she was just 17. Ramsay said officers told her at the time that nothing could be done and that they would simply add her 'to a pile of other female names' who had complained about Al Fayed. Ramsay, who died in a car crash in 2007 aged 28, had previously described how she was targeted by Al Fayed just five days after starting work at Harrods. She said the tycoon spotted her on the store's cameras and summoned her to his fifth-floor suite, where he offered her a £2,000 salary increase and a new role as an assistant manager in the designer clothes section. A fortnight later, Al Fayed offered to double her pay for a job at his Park Lane office, according to an account she gave to the News of the World in 1998. Ramsay said Al Fayed told her she would have to undergo a medical and clean herself with Dettol before grabbing her face, kissing her and sexually touching her without consent. She fled his office in tears, later recalling: 'I was terrified.' When she confided in a supervisor, Ramsay said the response was 'another one'. She was then escorted into a conference room where Al Fayed sacked her. It comes after just weeks ago, a woman employed by billionaire Al Fayed at his 'castle of horrors' Scottish estate spoke for the first time about how she was sexually assaulted by the former Harrods tycoon. The middle-aged mother, who we have named Katie, broke her silence about the ordeal she suffered at his hands – and said that she believed she was targeted because of her vulnerable background. Katie – the first woman who worked at Balnagown Castle in Ross-shire to come forward – said her horrific experiences have haunted her for the past three decades. Her testimony followed just weeks after The Scottish Mail on Sunday revealed that Police Scotland has reopened a probe into assault allegations first reported in 2021. Meanwhile, Harrods has bounced back into profit after setting aside £62.5million to compensate victims of its former owner. The £62.5 million Harrods has set aside for compensation to victims of the sexual predator contributed to a net loss of £34.3 million in the year to January 31, 2025. Harrods confirmed it has so far paid compensation to more than 100 survivors. But across the ensuing 12 months, to the end of January this year, the historic London department store reported a healthy pre-tax profit of £84.9 million. Harrods had also grappled with tough trading conditions in the year to January 2025, but it was the compensation payments that drove its accounts into the red.