Prestigious award win for searing exposé of Harrods boss decades of abuse

Huge congratulations to super-talented Stern & Wild filmmaker Erica Gornall and the entire team behind the extraordinary BBC documentary AL FAYED: PREDATOR AT HARRODS which won the Investigation of the Year prize last night at the 2025 British Journalism Awards.

The feature length documentary, which first aired on BBC Two in September 2024, exposed the truth behind the sexual abuse allegations made against former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed. The production team heard testimony from over 20 survivors, with 13 featured in the film, revealing for the first time the scale and seriousness of the allegations against billionaire Al Fayed, as well as the system that helped cover it up.

The judges said: “This was an explosive, highly revelatory investigation in which an impressive range of sources were persuaded to go on the record. It had a wide-ranging impact on a major British institution and wider society.”

Reviewing the film for the Guardian when it first aired, Henry Porter wrote: “so many of the women in the BBC documentary … required such sensitivity by the BBC director Erica Gornall and producer Cassie Cornish-Trestrail to draw out their stories. It is impossible to watch the film without seeing the lasting pain of their experiences.”

PREDATOR AT HARRODS previously won RTS Scoop of the Year 2025, was nominated for the 2025 Broadcast Awards, and longlisted for the 2025 Grierson Awards. It is a BBC Current Affairs production. Alongside Erica as Director, and Cassie as Producer, Mike Radford is Exec Producer and Keaton Stone is Series Consultant. Shout out to one and all.

The film is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.

L to R: Investigation of the Year prize winners Cassie Cornish-Trestrail, Erica Gornall, Mike Radford and Keaton Stone with host Jeremy Vine at the British Journalism Awards 2025. Picture: Press Gazette/Adam Duke Photography