The Metropolitan Police has been accused of failing in its legal duty to victims of human trafficking at the hands of billionaire Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed. At least five survivors have been confirmed by the Home Office as victims of modern slavery, receiving positive conclusive grounds decisions from the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), the UK's official framework for identifying victims of modern slavery.
Legal duty to refer
Statutory first responders, including the police, Border Force, the National Crime Agency and local authorities, must refer to the NRM all children and consenting adults they have reasonable grounds to believe may be a victim of modern slavery. Four survivors, all confirmed as victims of modern slavery, told the Press Association that the Met failed in their legal duty to offer them a referral to the NRM when they came forward. Instead, they made self-initiated referrals through the NGO Unseen.
The survivors believe the Met did not offer referrals to anyone who came forward about Al Fayed until April 2026. It is understood that the Met believes there is no automatic requirement to submit a referral for offences that occurred prior to the implementation of the NRM in April 2009 and the Modern Slavery Act 2015, but that referrals can be submitted. However, the Home Office views the historical nature of the alleged exploitation as irrelevant for notification and referral purposes. It is only if these offences were reported to the police before the aforementioned dates that there is no legal duty to refer.
Operation Cornpoppy
More than 400 allegations of sexual misconduct have been made against Al Fayed, dating between 1977 and 2014, including sexual assault, rape, sexual exploitation and human trafficking. The Met is investigating at least 156 victims who contacted them directly, including 21 who came forward before Al Fayed's death in 2023 at the age of 94. The investigation, known as Operation Cornpoppy, was launched in November 2024 and is looking at people who may have facilitated or enabled Al Fayed's crimes. Seven people have been questioned under caution, including four women in their 40s, 50s, 60s and 80s, and three men, one in his 60s, one in his 80s, and one of unknown age.
On April 29, 2026, it was reported by the BBC that Rachel Louw had received a conclusive grounds decision that she had been a victim of modern slavery after reporting abuse suffered at the hands of Al Fayed and his brother Salah. Ms Louw said she would not have been able to go through with the process without the support she received from an advocacy group for survivors of Al Fayed called No One Above, who worked with Unseen to make the referral. Since then, all four members of No One Above have also received positive conclusive grounds decisions after self-initiating referrals through Unseen.
Criticism and response
Margo, a pseudonym, was a domestic worker for the Al Fayed family after the 2010 sale of Harrods. She reported her experience to the police in 2024, and the Met did not offer her a referral to the NRM at the time. The Met have been 'reactive as opposed to proactive' throughout the whole investigation, Margo said. The former head of the Met's own anti-trafficking unit, Phil Brewer, told PA he had never seen any guidance or policy that backs up the Met's current position. 'There's no caveat of, 'if it happened in the UK, was there legislation in place?', which is what the Met's suggesting. That's not right,' he added. He added that regardless of whether it was a legal obligation, the Met should have been referring these victims to the NRM anyway.
Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner Eleanor Lyons said: 'Victims of sexual abuse and human trafficking have endured horrific exploitation at the hands of their abusers. We must do everything in our power to provide protections for victims of exploitation and hold the perpetrators of this crime to account.' Andy Day, the gold commander of Operation Cornpoppy, said in a letter to survivors on August 11: 'Work continues in relation to potential National Referral Mechanism referrals. The investigation team is progressing this work and will continue to make contact where appropriate. If you believe this may apply to you and you have not yet heard from the team, please get in touch.'
