The mother of a dreamer jailed for lying about being raped by an Asian gang burst into tears today as she claimed she was “just trying to get people to listen to her.”
Eleanor Williams, 22, was sentenced on Monday to eight and a half years in prison at Preston Crown Court for perverting the course of justice.
She sparked outrage after horrific images of her bruised face and allegations of abuse from a violent Asian group went viral and sparked public demonstrations in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, where businesses were denounced for racist abuse.
The full extent of Williams’ dishonesty was revealed on CCTV this week, which showed her buying the hammer she used to hit herself in the face, causing the injuries.
Today her mother, Allison Johnston, a former Labor councillor, spoke for the first time since her daughter was sentenced.
Eleanor Williams, 22, (left, in a police mugshot and right, with her self-inflicted injuries) was found guilty of perverting the course of justice and sentenced to eight and a half years in prison. She will serve just over four years
The mother of a fantasist jailed for lying about being raped by an Asian gang broke down in tears today as she claimed she was ‘just trying to get people to listen to her’
Today her mother, Allison Johnston, a former Labor councillor, spoke for the first time since her daughter was sentenced
Speaking through tears, she told Sky News: “[I’m] heartbroken. I can not do it [describe it]. I still can’t quite grasp it. It just doesn’t feel real.’
When asked why her daughter told such lies, she added, “I think she was just trying to get people to listen to her.”
Williams was raised by her mother and stepfather in a large stone semi-dwelling.
She has an older sister, Lucy, and a brother – both of whom adored their younger sibling.
The family home is on a quiet street on Walney Island, just off Barrow-in-Furness, where houses sell for up to £315,000 – double the average for the area – and to neighbors they seemed like a ‘perfectly normal family’.
Williams’s grandmother, Anne Burns, is a staunch Labor party in the town – she represents the town’s Hindpool ward on Cumbria County Council and is a cabinet minister for children’s services.
She has also been a ‘child advocate’ for the Barrow area and is part of the town’s community safety partnership.
It comes because one of her victims, Jordan Trengove, who spent 73 days in jail after being accused of her lies and left suicidal as a result, has demanded that Williams receive a life sentence.
He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: ‘Because she’s had time I felt it should have been longer because in reality she’s only going to do another two years and then she’s out.
“I don’t think it’s fair at all because she destroyed several lives. I think she should have been sentenced to life.’
Mr Trengove also revealed how he had spray-painted ‘rapist’ on his house and smashed his windows.
He added, “I’d like to know why she did this and what drove her to do this. There must be an explanation for everything and we didn’t get one.’
While Mr. Trengove was incarcerated, another victim faced lurid allegations that he made her work in a brothel in Amsterdam before selling her to another pimp.
Supporters of the Labor councilor’s daughter raised more than £20,000 through a social media campaign after the post was unknowingly shared by celebrities including Countdown presenter Rachel Riley.
But police had grown suspicious of her story after discovering she had set up fake Snapchat accounts and sent messages to herself.
During the first Covid lockdown in May 2020, Williams was found by officers with injuries she believed to have been inflicted by the gang.
The next day, the then-teenager shared images of her wounds in a Facebook post, saying she wanted to “raise awareness” of the alleged grooming ring who were “mainly Pakistani men.”
The post was shared more than 100,000 times and prompted Tommy Robinson – founder of the far-right English Defense League – to come to Barrow to ‘investigate’.
When police charged Williams instead, outraged supporters took part in demonstrations and Asian businesses were attacked.
But her lawsuit heard the Snapchat account that Williams claimed was that of an Asian trafficker and actually belonged to a Tesco employee from Essex who had never met her.
She alleged that restaurateur Mohammed Ramzan had groomed her for sex since she was 12, even selling her at auction for 25,000 euros after letting her work in a brothel in Amsterdam.
Williams also claimed he had threatened to throw her into the sea during a “gruesome” trip to Blackpool during which she had been “pimped” into eight men.
However, it turned out that Mr. Ramzan had in fact gone shopping at his local B&Q during the alleged trip to Amsterdam.
Meanwhile, on the night of her alleged ordeal in the seaside town, she instead stayed alone in a hotel after buying a Pot Noodle and spent the evening watching YouTube on her phone.
Williams was found guilty of eight counts of perverting the course of justice.
She pleaded guilty to a ninth count at an earlier hearing.
Williams had denied telling a ‘pack of lies’ to police and jury, saying: ‘I wanted people to know what was going on in Barrow is still going on’
Judge Robert Altham, Preston’s honorary recorder, jailed her, telling Williams that her lies could deter “real victims” from going to the police for fear they would be “disbelieved.”
Cumbria Police Chief Inspector Matthew Pearman stressed that Williams’s allegations “couldn’t be taken more seriously when she first came forward.”
He said it had been a ‘dark time for Barrow’ but urged anyone who had been victim of sexual abuse to report it to the police.