Prosecutors are considering whether to authorise the first criminal charge arising from the wider Metropolitan Police investigation connected to Mohamed Fayed and Harrods.
Operation Cornpoppy detectives have submitted a file to the Crown Prosecution Service relating to one suspect, a man in his 80s, and are seeking a charging decision over an allegation of indecent assault on a woman under the Sexual Offences Act 1956.
Police have made clear that the alleged offending covered by the file is not directly linked to Fayed, but forms part of the wider investigation.
The referral represents a significant development in an investigation in which 159 victims have reported allegations of sexual assault, rape, sexual exploitation and human trafficking to police.
No charge has yet been brought against the suspect, with the decision now resting with prosecutors following consideration of the evidence submitted by detectives.
Dave Robertson MP and Wendy Chamberlain MP, Co Chairs of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Survivors of Fayed and Harrods, said:
“This will be a huge moment for many survivors, whether this first charging decision relates to them or not.
“As a group they have been waiting years, and in some cases decades, for justice.
“We are pleased to see the Metropolitan Police pushing ahead in its investigation by referring this charging decision to the Crown Prosecution Service.
“We recently met with the force, who assured us that progress on the investigation is accelerating, and we will keep supporting survivors to be heard by the all the institutions involved in this case.
“They deserve certainty that every aspect of the abuse they suffered at the hands of this trafficking network will be pursued to the fullest extent possible.”
The parliamentary group has been maintaining contact with senior Metropolitan Police officers as the investigation develops.
Its representatives met senior officers on 16 July to put questions from survivors directly to investigators and say they will continue to scrutinise progress.
The significance of the latest development is not that somebody has been charged, because that has not happened, but that detectives now believe there is sufficient material for prosecutors to consider whether a criminal prosecution should proceed.
The Crown Prosecution Service will determine whether the evidential and public interest tests required to bring a charge have been met.
For survivors who have waited years, and in some cases decades, for allegations surrounding Fayed and Harrods to be investigated, attention now turns to that decision.
