Recently, there seems to be a running theme of police negligence and incompetence. Earlier last week, we reported on the missteps taken by the police in the lead-up to Sir David Amess’s murder, and now we have revelations suggesting that the Met Police failed to act on allegations of sexual misconduct pertaining to Mohamed Al Fayed.
Samantha Ramsay, who has since died, was 17 years old when she started working in the toy department in Harrods in 1995. After being groped by Al Fayed, she reported the billionaire to the Met, who failed to take any further action.
Dissatisfied with their response, Samantha reported her story to the News of the World in 1998, where the graphic details of the assaults were described in her own words.
Having been spotted by Al Fayed, Samantha was repeatedly invited into this office, where he gave her £50 in notes and offered her more highly-paid jobs. Eventually, after instructing her to “wash herself” with Dettol, he then proceeded to sexually assault her.
According to the News of the World article, Samantha “was terrified”.
“And then I rushed out of his office. I ran to the toilets and burst into tears,” the quote reads. When Samantha told her supervisor what had happened, she said he just sighed and said: “Another one.”
Speaking for the first time, Samantha’s mother Wendy and sister, Emma, recall the ordeal. They recounted how they both received phone calls from Samantha, who told them that the police had taken her details down but had told her nothing would be done as it was her word against his and he was too powerful.
The Met says there is no history of Samantha’s report on current computer systems, but that in 1995, some reports were paper-based and might not have been transferred. Is this coincidence, or a genuine case of record mismanagement? Either way, it’s a damming reflection on the Met.
Al Fayed was never charged, and almost thirty years later, a lawyer representing the family has called for a public inquiry amid other claims of sexual harassment have surfaced from more than sixty women.
“A public inquiry can shine a light into the many dark corners of this awful ordeal, which will help lessons to be learnt and recommendations can be made to try to ensure nothing like this happens again,” Emma Jones, from law firm Leigh Day, said.
“It is clear from Sam’s story that all of the reports against Al Fayed to the police are not accounted for, and until now, they have not acknowledged that those that pre-date their digital systems may have been lost,” she added.
Sexual harassment and deviancy have no place in our country, but we are sadly reminded yet again how rampant it is in the upper echelons of society and our institutions. The infamous case of Jimmy Saville, whose despicable exploits were covered up (and some might say, abetted) by the BBC, instantly springs to mind.
For too long now, rich, sexual deviants have lived above the law, free to rain terror on women and children while being protected by the state. This has to stop.
Homeland Party wants to promote a safe, civilised and wholesome Britain, where sexual predators are not above the law. Any guilty individual, no matter how wealthy, would face the full weight of the law, as would those who turn a blind eye to such behaviour. A full review of our law enforcement is long overdue. In Britain, police corruption and incompetence would be stamped out, and the law would be applied equally, irrespective of wealth or protected status.
