Met sent alleged Al Fayed abuse notes to wrong victim, Joanna Brittan says
A woman alleging abuse by Mohamed Al Fayed says the Met sent her sensitive notes to another victim, deepening fears over police handling of the case.
The Metropolitan Police’s handling of the Mohamed Al Fayed inquiry has come under fresh scrutiny after Joanna Brittan said notes about her alleged abuse were sent to the wrong victim. The error has sharpened concern among complainants that a case built around deeply sensitive testimony is still struggling to protect personal information as detectives pursue allegations of rape, sexual assault, trafficking and cover-up.
The Met said its investigation into Al Fayed and people who may have facilitated or enabled his offending remained active. As of 6 March 2026, officers had interviewed four suspects under caution, three women in their 40s, 50s and 60s, and one man in his 60s. Police said the suspected offences include aiding and abetting rape and sexual assault, assisting the commission of sexual offences, and human trafficking for sexual exploitation.
By that date, 154 victims had come forward. That figure showed how far the case had widened from the 21 allegations first reported in September 2024, rising to 90 by November 2024 and then 146 by August 2025 before reaching 154 in March 2026. The scale matters because Al Fayed owned Harrods from 1985 to 2010 and died in 2023 at the age of 94, leaving many allegations to be tested without the central suspect facing trial.
The force has already acknowledged distress in the case. A leaked letter from the lead officer said she was sorry that the main suspect would never face justice, and the Met has previously apologised to alleged victims for the impact of the inquiry. But the latest data-handling mistake risks compounding distrust, especially among people who say they were trafficked or abused by Al Fayed or his associates and who have already exposed intimate details to investigators.
The inquiry is also examining whether misconduct or corruption helped facilitate or cover up the abuse. Earlier reporting said the Met was reviewing 21 allegations made before Al Fayed died, and had referred two of them to the Independent Office for Police Conduct in November. It had also sent files to the Crown Prosecution Service for charging decisions in 2008 and 2015, while seeking early investigative advice in 2018, 2021 and 2023. For victims, the central question is now whether the breach involving Brittan was an isolated error or another sign that the system handling one of Britain’s most serious abuse investigations remains dangerously fragile.
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