Sexual abuse survivors say working with late former Harrods owner involved ‘deceit, lies and humiliation’

• A gilded life, full of controversy

A survivor of Mohamed Al Fayed’s sexual abuse has given a harrowing account of her suffering at his hands. Speaking at a press conference in London, the woman – named as Natacha – told reporters she “walked into a lion’s den” when she accepted a job with the former owner of Harrods department store in London. She said working for him had involved a “layer of cover-ups, deceit, lies, manipulation, humiliation and gross sexual misconduct”.

Referring to Fayed, who died last year at 94, as “the chairman”, Natacha said he “preyed on the most vulnerable – those of us who needed to pay the rent and some of us who didn’t have parents to protect them”. She called him a “highly manipulative” figure who initially went out of his way to make her feel safe and comfortable at work.