The force failed to hide recipients’ email addresses when it sent out a monthly update to victims on Tuesday last week, leaving them visible to others on the distribution list
A Home Office spokesperson said the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is investigating the Met’s handling of Al Fayed allegations and the force has made a referral to the Information Commissioner’s Office, and that the Government “must let these investigations run their course”.
An advocacy group for survivors of Al Fayed, called No One Above, urged the Government to act, saying the Met had “failed to keep survivors safe”.
AD: Capeesh Restaurant
No One Above said in a statement: “The investigation has inflicted two egregious data breaches on the survivors it exists to protect, delayed answering their questions and dismissed their calls for proper safeguarding of witnesses and evidence.
“We have lost faith in Operation Cornpoppy. The latest safeguarding failure, exposing the identities of 147 victims, is the culmination of a multi-decade history of failure.
AD: Oysterian Sea Food Restaurant And Bar
“The state cannot use the principle of non-interference in police investigations as a shield for its responsibilities to victims and the public.
“No One Above calls on the Burnham Government to show the resolve its predecessors lacked.
“Prove now that the safety of women and girls matters, deliver justice to Fayed victims and end impunity for those who believe themselves above British law.”
The group has called for the National Crime Agency (NCA) to take the lead on the investigation, saying it is better able to be independent, and to bring in the “financial and international capabilities a serious organised crime case demands”. The survivors also called for confirmation that the investigation “pursues modern slavery lines of inquiry as a primary focus” and parliamentary scrutiny of the investigation.
AD: Heritage And Restaurant Lounge Bar