The Metropolitan Police has reportedly apologised to alleged victims of the late Mohamed Al Fayed for the distress they have suffered.
In a letter leaked to the BBC, the officer in charge of the investigation, Detective Chief Superintendent Angela Craggs, said she is “acutely aware” that the case is “especially distressing to all those who have suffered”.
“Not least due to the fact that the main suspect will now never directly face justice for his crimes, and for this I am truly sorry,” Detective Chief Superintendent Angela Craggs wrote.
Scotland Yard did not provide a copy of the letter to the PA news agency.
The force said it could not comment further because it would “jeopardise criminal or other proceedings”.
Two complaints against the Met over its handling of allegations against the former Harrods boss will be investigated by the force itself, under the direction of a watchdog.
The Met is currently reviewing a total of 21 allegations that were made before Mr Al Fayed died in 2023, and referred two of these to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) in November.
Alleged victims have repeated calls for a public inquiry into what happened.
More than 100 alleged victims have contacted police to say they were sexually abused by the tycoon, the youngest of whom is thought to have been 13 at the time.
A number of allegations were made against him while he was still alive.
Investigators twice sent files for a charging decision to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) – once in 2008 relating to three alleged victims and again in 2015 linked to one other.
On another three occasions – in 2018, 2021 and 2023 – the CPS was asked for what is called early investigative advice, but the matters were not pursued further by police.
In November, the Met confirmed that detectives were investigating more than five people who may have facilitated the former Harrods boss in his alleged sexual abuse of dozens of women and girls.
They are looking at people surrounding the businessman who could have enabled him to commit crimes which are claimed to have spanned decades between 1977 and 2014.
The force is also facing allegations of police corruption, with The Guardian reporting that officers were accused of taking bribes to help him persecute staff and avoid accusations of abuse.
