Met Police sent trafficking victim's details to wrong person

A woman who says she was trafficked to Mohamed Al Fayed and raped by one of his associates says the Metropolitan Police sent her personal details to the wrong person.

Joanna Brittan gave a statement to Devon & Cornwall police in 2017 that was later passed to the Met. It described how she was trafficked to the former Harrods owner and sexually abused by one of his business associates. She later found that the Met had sent handwritten notes of her account, along with her address, contact number and date of birth, to another alleged victim who lives in Australia.

The BBC understands the data breach, caused by human error, was reported to the Information Commissioner's Office and that Brittan was offered a one-off payment. The force began its investigation into Al Fayed's abuse in November 2024, even though 21 women had come forward before his death in 2023. Al Fayed died without facing charges.

Brittan, from Devon, spoke to the BBC after waiving her right to anonymity. She described the Met as "shambolic, incompetent and complicit". The breach occurred after she asked for her original statement to be returned because her lawyers needed it.

Last month the Home Office told her there were "reasonable grounds" to believe she had been a victim of modern slavery and trafficking and that it would investigate further.

Jasvinder Sanghera, the Independent Survivor Advocate appointed by Harrods who has worked with Brittan, called the incident "absolutely appalling". She said it gave her no confidence in the processes for survivors or in the current operation.

The BBC understands that the 2017 report was treated as a rape allegation against Ahmed Obaidly, a United Arab Emirates diplomat and associate of Al Fayed. Brittan gave further information in a video-recorded interview in 2020. She was later told that the case against Obaidly could not proceed because he had died in 2015.

Allegations Brittan made against Al Fayed are now part of Operation Cornpoppy, the Met's active investigation into people who may have enabled or facilitated his offending. Brittan is one of more than 200 alleged survivors who will join a virtual meeting with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday afternoon.

Lucy Duckworth, policy lead for The Survivors Trust, who will chair the meeting, said it "represents a significant and hard-earned milestone for survivors". She added that it must be a turning point and that authorities need to confront the wider systemic failures that allowed abuse on this scale to occur.

Last month it was confirmed that a serving Metropolitan Police officer and four former officers are under investigation for potential misconduct over the handling of reports of sexual abuse made against Al Fayed. The Independent Office for Police Conduct said it has not yet decided whether any current or former officers have a disciplinary case to answer.