Fayed ‘bought Diana's old school to groom and rape girls'

Telegraph

a day ago

Mohamed al-Fayed raped and sexually assaulted girls at Princess Diana's old boarding school, it has been claimed.
A former teacher has alleged the former Harrods owner bought West Heath School in Sevenoaks, Kent as a way of grooming young pupils.
Fayed, who died in 2023 aged 94, is said to have raped a girl, caused the suicide of another and fathered a baby with an under-age pupil, according to another former staff member at West Heath.
The tycoon purchased Diana's old school for £2,300,000 in May 1998, almost a year after she died in a car crash in Paris alongside his son, Dodi, with whom she had been having a relationship.
Fayed, who also owned Fulham FC, said at the time that he wanted to protect the school where the Princess said she had enjoyed some of the happiest times of her life.
But a former teacher has now alleged that Fayed used his ownership of the independent school as an opportunity to meet young girls and invite them to his home and workplace to exploit them.
James (not his real name), told The Sun: 'Fayed would come to the school sometimes and it would be the big Mohamed show, like when he came with celebrities. He brought Madonna in 2010.
'But there were other times when he'd come to just stroll in alone and start talking to the girls.
'I always thought it was creepy and odd. I know that's easy to say in hindsight, but I did.
'No one seemed to stop him because he'd saved the school from closing. He was free to wander around and do whatever he liked.
'I never thought that was right. I thought the headmistress should have been walking round with him, but she might not even have realised that he was there.'
A woman who worked at the school has claimed one pupil at West Heath, which was an all-girls boarding school when the Princess attended, but now caters for both girls and boys whose mainstream education has broken down, told her of an attack by Fayed.
The woman, named only as Jessica, told Alison Kervin, the author of a new book about Fayed: 'I couldn't get her to go to the police, and she refused to tell anyone at the school but me. I guess that because I wasn't part of the teaching staff, she felt safer telling me. She was nervous and crying.
'Fayed had invited her to Harrods and attacked her in the boardroom. He didn't manage to rape her, but he tore her clothes and he hurt her. She kicked him and he slapped her and called her an ungrateful animal.
'He said that he would pull the money out of the school and close it down if she said anything. She was terrified. She felt like she was to blame, and nothing I said would calm her down.'
Jessica alleges she has also been made aware of other girls who were attacked by Fayed and at least one who was raped. She has reported her findings to her lawyers and plans to contact the Harrods Survivors support group on their behalf.
'When I spoke to lawyers, they put me on to some lawyers working with a lot of the victims, and they were already aware of the claims. They said they had been contacted by girls at the school and by the relatives of one girl who had committed suicide,' she told Kervin, the author of The Monster of Harrods.
Jessica added: 'The family are convinced it was because of what she went through with Fayed. I know they are also investigating that he fathered a love child with an under-age girl.'
More than 100 women accuse tycoon
More than 100 alleged victims have contacted police to say they were sexually abused by the tycoon. The youngest is thought to have been 13 at the time.
A number of allegations were made against Fayed while he was still alive. Investigators twice sent files for a charging decision to the Crown Prosecution Service – in 2008 relating to three victims and 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.
Asked if he suspected Fayed was trying to recruit girls at West Heath, James said: 'There's no question that he was. I know he told girls he could get them jobs and he'd give them things from Harrods.
'He invited a couple of the girls to his house. I spoke to another teacher and we went to talk to a senior member of staff about it. They said that it was fine and we shouldn't worry, but it wasn't fine.
'He shouldn't have been there. Benefactor or not, a man of that age should not be mixing with young girls, offering them lifts in his Rolls-Royce and buying them presents before inviting them to his house.'
The teacher said that when details of Fayed's predatory behaviour first emerged he 'literally punched the wall in anger and frustration', adding: 'I should have done more.'
West Heath School says on its website that it is sponsored by the Alfayed Charitable Foundation. This is overseen by Fayed's widow Heini Wathen-Fayed, his son Omar and daughter Camilla.
The school describes itself as 'a living memorial to the life and work of its most famous former pupil Diana, Princess of Wales, who spent many happy days here'.
In a statement, it said: 'We have no further information other than what is currently in the news. We do not tolerate abuse or harassment in any form.'