Mohamed Al Fayed’s security chief ‘falsified Jill Dando murder investigation by bribing tainted Met police detective’

It has been claimed Mohamed Al Fayed’s security chief corrupted the investigation into Jill Dando’s murder by bribing a corrupt Met Police detective.

John MacNamara, who led the disgraced Harrods tycoon’s extensive security operation, has been accused of trying to pay off an official in return for confidential information about the BBC star’s death.

BBC Crimewatch presenter Jill was tragically shot in the head outside her home in west London in 1999, sparking Britain’s biggest police investigation since the Yorkshire Ripper. She died at the age of 37 and her murder remains unsolved.

Punch magazine, once owned by predator Al Fayed, previously published key unknown details from the investigation, including that Ms Dando was shot behind the ear.

In his 2002 book Dead on Time, Punch author John McVicar claimed that former Met police chief Macnamara arranged for him to meet a detective who revealed details of the investigation for £300, reports The Mirror.

McVicar, who died two years ago aged 82, claimed he was told to put the money in a brown envelope “in honor of Mo”. [Al Fayed]’.

Macnamara was Al Fayed’s security chief and was previously accused of intimidating victims into not speaking out

BBC Crimewatch presenter Jill was tragically shot in the head outside her home in west London in 1999

McVicar, a notorious ex-robber who escaped prison twice before reforming as a writer, once said of Macnarmara, who died in 2019: “He destroyed the careers and lives of far more people than he made.”

It is alleged Al Fayed also used Macnamara to bribe police officers and threaten his alleged victims to help him cover up years of abuse.

Al Fayed, who died last year aged 94, was hit by an avalanche of rape and assault allegations last month after at least two former Harrods employees told a BBC documentary that they had been raped or molested by the flamboyant Egyptian tycoon had been.

But on Friday the Met Police announced it was investigating 40 new allegations against Al Fayed and others since the BBC documentary.

The 40 new allegations relate to 40 alleged victims and are in addition to allegations known to police prior to the BBC investigation and documentary, Scotland Yard said.

Prior to recent media coverage, 21 allegations were made against the late billionaire, resulting in crimes relating to 21 different women being recorded between 2005 and 2023.

The crimes are said to have taken place between 1979 and 2013. Four of the reports involved allegations of rape, 16 involved sexual assault and one was related to human trafficking, the Met said.

Police said Scotland Yard contacted the Crown Prosecution Service five times between 2005 and 2023, but no further action was taken against Mr Al Fayed.

In his 2002 book Dead on Time, Punch author John McVicar claimed that former Met police chief Macnamara arranged for him to meet a detective who revealed details of the investigation for £300

Police said that while it was not possible to bring criminal proceedings against Mr Al Fayed as he was no longer alive, they would “continue to consider whether other individuals could be prosecuted for criminal offences”.

Female victims who have come forward to describe their horrific experiences have also told of the lengths to which Al Fayed’s inner circle went to cover up his crimes.

In 1995, women made allegations of sexual misconduct against Al Fayed to Vanity Fair journalist Maureen Oath.

One of Al Fayed’s personal assistants, “Alice”, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, claimed she had told Ms Oath that she would be making an anonymous statement about Al Fayed’s behaviour. Before publishing the article, Alice claims MacNamara intimidated her to prevent her from speaking out again.

She said in the documentary: “John MacNamara contacted me before the article was published and I had no idea how he found me.”

“He told me not to participate in this article, but if I went against his advice just to know that he knew where my parents lived.” I felt cold.

“After speaking to Maureen, I never spoke to anyone else for fear of what it might bring.”

The article was published without serious allegations of sexual assault and Al Fayed sued the magazine for defamation. He later dropped the multi-million pound lawsuit.

Around the same time, a member of Al Fayed’s personal security team – who worked closely with MacNamara – said he was a “bad piece of work and would threaten people and things and use his power as a former police officer.”

Billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed (pictured) has faced numerous allegations of sexual assault dating back almost half a century

Al Fayed in 2005 at the unveiling of a monument to his son Dodi and Diana, Princess of Wales

The Met says “the majority” of reports it has received coincide with Al Fayed’s ownership of Harrods

He added: “I know for a fact that MacNamara personally knocked on someone’s door and threatened a girl.”

After Princess Diana died in a car accident with Al Fayed’s son Dodi Al Fayed, MacNamara launched his own private investigation into the accident, which ran parallel to the official investigation.

Working with Al Fayed, the couple made a series of strange claims that the royal family was involved in the tragedy.

He made up the story that Prince Philip and MI6 somehow conspired to murder Diana and Dodi to prevent their marriage.

MacNamara tried to find out the reason for the crash, claiming that Diana was pregnant and this was a motive to kill her.

He hired a retired French police officer to “prove” that MI6 was behind the plot and that the agency had acted on Prince Philip’s orders.

Then he came up with the story that a white Fiat Uno had deliberately crashed into the Mercedes in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel. Macnamara presented himself as a straight cop and persuaded journalists to believe his fantasy.

His imagination collapsed in 2008 during an inquest into the deaths of Diana, 36, Dodi, 42, and driver Henri Paul, 41, where he admitted there was no evidence to support his theories.

At the inquest, MacNamara clashed with the coroner after admitting he had initially lied about the amount of Henri Paul that night and whether Diana was pregnant when she died.

Lord Justice Scott Baker asked Macnamara: “If you lie on some occasions, how can you do that?” [the jury] Tell me if you tell the truth to others?

Macnamara replied, “I came here to tell the truth.”

He died in 2019 after suffering from progressive supranuclear palsy.