22 October 2024, 08:27
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Alamy
British model Bianca Gascoigne, 37, has said she was sexually assaulted and groomed by Harrods owner Mohamed al Fayed as a teenager.
The daughter of England football legend Paul Gascoigne regularly visited the luxury store as a child and said she felt “safe” in al Fayed’s company before she began working there at sixteen.
However, once Ms Gascoigne began working there the late billionaire would grope her and force her to kiss him during their weekly meetings, she alleges.
Speaking for the first time about the alleged sexual assault, Ms Gascoigne told Sky: “[Al Fayed] turned up at the apartment to my shock, I was just gobsmacked, I was kind of very shell-shocked.
Read more: Harrods settling over 250 claims against former boss Mohamed Al Fayed
Read more: Girl kidnapped from outside Harrods before being drugged and sexually assaulted, court hears
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“I just didn’t really know what to do, he came in and then he sat me down on the sofa… he got his privates out and got my hands and was trying to manoeuvre them on his parts.
“When that didn’t work he was trying to force my head on to his lap.
“And I don’t know how but I managed to wiggle away.
“And I think possibly you know, that him knowing my parents… I don’t know, that might have saved me at that moment. But it was horrific.”
Harrods has said more than 250 people are part of its process to settle compensation claims over alleged historic sexual misconduct by Mohamed Al Fayed.
A slew of allegations against the businessman have emerged in the wake of his 2023 death, aged 94.
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Ms Gascoigne said she did not report al Fayed out of fear of bringing “embarrassment or shame” to her family.
“Obviously, I loved my job because it’s exactly what I wanted to do – that was my dream,” she said.
“And, you know, he’s doing all these things to me. And I was close to people that he knew, and I felt like I couldn’t even tell them either, because I didn’t want to bring embarrassment and shame.”
She also feared she would lose her job if she spoke out, Ms Gascoigne added.
Al Fayed would also berate Ms Gascoigne about her father, who suffered with mental health and addiction issues during and after his career in football.
She said: “[Al Fayed] used to tell me how much of a bad father my dad was because he used to come into the store drunk, and he used to tell me [my father] was an embarrassment.”
Harrods said it had “settled a number of claims with women” made against its former owner since last year.
It added that since the airing of a BBC documentary last month, there were more than 250 individuals “now in the Harrods process to settle claims directly with the business”.
The BBC’s Al Fayed: Predator At Harrods documentary reported the claims of five women who said they were raped by Mr Al Fayed, who died in 2023 at the age of 94, with a number of others alleging sexual misconduct.
In a statement, Harrods said: “Since 2023, Harrods settled a number of claims with women who alleged historic sexual misconduct by Fayed.
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“Since the airing of the documentary, so far there are over 250-plus individuals who are now in the Harrods’ process to settle claims directly with the business.”
Earlier this month, the group Justice For Harrods Survivors said the number of women “feeling safe to come forward” was “increasing on a daily basis”.
On Saturday, Scotland Yard said a “detailed and thorough” review of allegations against Mr Al Fayed was taking place, amid criticism of their actions in response to women who said they had been abused.
he Metropolitan Police asked prosecutors to decide whether to charge Mr Al Fayed, who was also the owner of Fulham FC, in relation to two out of 21 women who made allegations, including of rape and sexual assault, between 2005 and 2023.
Evidence was shown to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in 2009 and 2015, but it decided not to go ahead with either case because there was not “a realistic prospect of conviction”.
Mr Al Fayed acquired Harrods for £615 million in 1985.
In 2010, after 26 years in charge, he sold the department store to the Qatari royal family for a reported £1.5 billion. Justice For Harrods Survivors has been approached for comment.