Eleanor Williams’ mother sued after ‘refusing to return £21,000’ donated by well-wishers

The mother of fantasist Eleanor Williams, who was jailed for falsely claiming she was raped by four men, including an Asian gang, is facing charges amid claims she failed to return £21,000 raised by duped benefactors.

Labor councilor Allison Johnston of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, was awarded £21,104 to pay the legal costs of bringing her daughter’s abusers to justice.

But last week, the 22-year-old was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison after being exposed as a fantasist and convicted of perverting the course of justice.

Shane Yerrell, 39, who organized the appeal – which had more than 1,000 backers – said the money was to help Williams pay for a flat away from Barrow, where she lied about being a rape victim.

But when it emerged that Williams was being charged with perverting the course of justice, Mr Yerrell decided to draw up a contract so that the money could only be spent on legal costs and advice for Williams, he told The Times.

Eleanor Williams’ mother speaks to Sky News

It also said that if no charges were brought against her alleged abusers, the money would be split between two charities, Women’s Community Matters and The Maggie Oliver Foundation, but both refused the money after the trial.

Mr Yerrell, a Tory councilor in Essex, said communication between him and Ms Johnston failed when he arranged to give the donations to the James Bulger Memorial Trust and the Furness Multicultural Community Forum, but Williams’ mother wanted her own choose charities.

Speaking to the Times, Mr Yerrell said: ‘There was a conviction at the end of the day. The money was raised to help her fight this gang that doesn’t exist.”

Ms Johnston has been contacted for comment.

Mr Yerrell has revealed how he contacted Ms Johnston urging her to release £3,000 of the money so it could be donated to a family wanting to take their terminally ill three-year-old daughter to Lapland.

Ms Johnston ‘ignored’ the message, he claimed, so he decided to address her directly in a YouTube interview.

He said, “As a mother you have to put yourself in the position of that little girl’s mother… I find it disgusting to hold on to [the money].’

The ‘Get Justice for Ellie’ appeal raised £22,129 in 2020, but this was reduced to £21,104 after fees from the JustGiving fundraising website. Under a deal drawn up by Mr Yerrell, the money would be split between two charities if no charges were brought against Williams’ alleged abusers.

Ms Johnston, a councilor on Barrow Borough Council, was suspended by the Labor Party in January following Williams’s conviction.

Williams falsely claimed she was trafficked and horribly abused by an Asian gang in May 2020, in a 1300-word account on Facebook. on itself with a claw hammer.

Her post, which was shared more than 100,000 times, sparked far-right demonstrations and death threats against local Asian men.

A man who ran an Indian restaurant in the city told how the windows of his business were smashed and how people regularly abused him in the street. “I got calls that they were going to rape my wife in the front [of] my children, then kill me and kill my children,” he told the BBC.

Williams had already filed a slew of false rape claims dating back to 2017. One victim, Jordan Trengrove, told how he spent 73 days in jail and shared a cell with a pedophile after she falsely accused him of rape.

He expressed anger last week that some of the money was not given to the terminally ill girl’s family. He said: ‘They were quick enough to accept £22,000. Why can’t they give £3,000 of it and give it to a real cause?’

Simon Fell, Tory MP for Barrow and Furness, called for the money to be spent on repairing the damage done by Williams’ lies. “It would be very good if this money goes to a good cause that can promote community cohesion,” he said.

Three men whom Williams falsely accused of rape attempted suicide as a result of her lies.