The Metropolitan Police has apologised after inadvertently disclosing the email addresses of around 143 people who allege they were sexually abused by the late Mohamed Al Fayed. The breach occurred on Tuesday when officers sent a monthly update on Operation CornPoppy to victims, leaving recipients' addresses visible to others on the distribution list.
The force attributed the error to human mistake and referred itself to the Information Commissioner's Office, which had already issued the Met a reprimand and enforcement notice on 5 August over separate data protection failures. Affected survivors were contacted the same day.
The update itself confirmed that three additional suspects, aged in their 70s and 80s, had been interviewed under caution, bringing the total questioned to seven. No arrests have been made in the investigation, which followed hundreds of allegations of rape, sexual assault, and trafficking against Al Fayed after his death in 2023 at age 94. The incident follows complaints lodged with the Independent Office for Police Conduct by three victims in June.