Questions for Met after it sought only 2 Al Fayed prosecutions

The CPS has now told the BBC that, in 2009, it made a charging decision on two allegations of sexual assault in relation to one female complainant.

Then, in 2015, it made a charging decision on one allegation of rape and an allegation of aiding and abetting rape by one female suspect. These allegations related to a different female complainant.

It means the Met did not pass full files of evidence to prosecutors on 19 of the women who approached them, nor did the two files it did pass contain complaints from other women whose evidence could have potentially provided corroboration.

Many people will be astonished that a man could be accused of sexual offences by 21 women and not be charged. Given that 40 further women have approached the Met since the BBC film, there are now mounting questions about the quality of the Met’s earlier enquiries.

These include why the Met did not link the different cases or launch a larger investigation that might have found other women who have now come forward.

The Met has previously said it also approached the CPS on three additional occasions for “early investigative advice” in relation to Al Fayed. These three occasions did not involve the CPS being asked to make charging decisions on full files of evidence.