A woman has been sentenced to eight and a half years in jail after she lied about being groomed by a gang of Asian sex traffickers, went far to injure herself with a hammer in order to corroborate her claims.
Williams had published pictures of her injuries and an account of being groomed, trafficked and beaten, on Facebook in May 2020, in a post which was shared more than 100,000 times.
It sparked demonstrations in her hometown and led to English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson visiting the town to ‘investigate’ the claims.
Eleanor Williams, 22 from Barrow, United Kingdom, was sentenced yesterday, Tuesday, March 14.
She was previously found guilty on eight counts of doing acts tending and intended to pervert the course of justice after she accused five men of rape, leading to one being jailed and leaving others’ lives in tatters.
Williams was 16 when she made the first false claim she had been raped at a party in Barrow.
She later claimed she had been raped after a night out at Manhattans nightclub, where she worked, and again at her flat by the same man.
She went on to say she had been groomed from the age of 12, forced to attend sex parties across the north of England and taken to Ibiza where the abuse continued.
According to Mirror, she said she had been sold as a slave at an auction in Amsterdam while on holiday with her sister.
In a letter to judges, Williams apologised for ‘some mistakes’ and said she was ‘young and confused’.
She was discovered with hammer injuries to her legs and one of her fingers was partially severed, but CCTV video shows Williams in a Tesco store buying the weapon.
She wrote: ‘I know I have made some mistakes and I am sorry but I was young and confused. When I wrote the Facebook post I never intended causing issues in the community.
‘I am devastated at the consequences it has had on Barrow. I was discharged from hospital that morning and was in a bad way….I wasn’t thinking straight.
‘Me and my family publicly stated we didn’t want Tommy Robinson in the town as I do not agree with his views and know the damage he has caused.
Some of the falsely accused men gave statements ahead of her sentencing, opening up about the impact the accusations had on their lives.
Jordan Trengove, who was arrested three times on false allegations, said: ‘We had the word “rapist” sprayed on the house and the window smashed. My mum had to leave the house because she didn’t feel safe.
‘My time on remand will haunt me for the rest of my life. I was put on a sex offenders’ wing and was forced to share a cell with a man who told me why he was in prison. I felt sick.’
Mohammed Ramzan said: ‘Two weeks after my arrest I attempted to take my own life. I still have the scars to this day. I was constantly harassed which caused unnecessary heartache.
‘Myself and my family still fear for our safety. At a time I had to move away from my family home out of fear for my personal safety.’
Oliver Gardner said: ‘When I was told she was accusing me of rape I felt sick. I had to tell my mum and I started questioning myself even though I knew I’d done nothing wrong.
‘My mental health got really bad and I tried to take my life. I was taken to hospital for emergency treatment.’
A court previously heard how on May 19, 2020, she was found by officers near her home on Walney Island with injuries, which she claimed were inflicted by the gang after she was taken to a house in the town and raped.
The prosecution claimed Williams caused the injuries to herself with a hammer, which was found with her blood on close by.
Jonathan Sandiford KC, prosecuting, said the incident was a ‘finale’ to a series of false allegations made by Williams.
The court also heard a Snapchat account, which Williams claimed belonged to an Asian trafficker called Shaggy Wood was the account of a man called Liam Wood.
In his closing speech, the prosecutor told the jury: ‘The defendant goes online to her social media contacts and effectively finds random names on the internet she presents as being victims of trafficking or perpetrators.’
It was alleged Williams sent some messages to herself, making them appear as if they were from traffickers or fellow victims.
In other cases, she is alleged to have manipulated real people to send messages which she then said were from her abusers.
The jury was told that some of the people she made allegations about were real while others, the prosecution claimed, did not exist.
