As UK editor of Vanity Fair, from the 1990s I amassed appalling testimonies about the Harrods owner of sex abuse, racism and spying on staff

A BBC documentary into the sexual predation of Mohamed Al Fayed, owner of Harrods from 1985 to 2010, found more than 20 women who testified to abuse by Fayed and five who were raped by him. Since the programme was aired last Thursday, lawyers representing the victims have said there are probably many more out there.

That seems highly likely. As the former UK editor of Vanity Fair responsible for defending a libel case brought by Fayed in the mid-90s, I know of three who couldn’t be included in the documentary and the anecdotal evidence from that period suggested that Fayed treated Harrods as a mini fiefdom where he had the right over any female employee he spotted on CCTV or met walking the floors of the department store. His abuse and the fear he instilled were open secrets.