Barrow woman who made Asian grooming gang claims sentenced to eight years in jail

A woman who claimed she was the victim of an Asian grooming gang has been jailed for eight and a half years.

Eleanor Williams, 22, published pictures of her alleged 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.

The post led to demonstrations in her town of Barrow-in-Furness, with English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson visiting in the wake of the allegations.

  • Judge Robert Altham sentenced her in Preston Crown Court

But in January, a jury at Preston Crown Court found her guilty of eight counts of doing acts tending and intended to pervert the course of justice.

During the two day sentencing hearing the court heard three men tried to take their own lives after Williams made the false rape allegations that created an “unprecedented outcry” in the Cumbrian town.

Williams claimed Mohammed Ramzan, 43, had groomed her from the age of 12, put her to work in brothels in Amsterdam, and sold her at an auction there.

  • Mohammed Ramzan speaking outside Preston Crown Court

But the court heard that, at the time she was in the Netherlands, his bank card was being used at a B&Q in Barrow.

Williams also gave police an account of being taken to Blackpool, where she said Mr Ramzan threatened her and she was taken to different addresses and forced to have sex with men.

Eleanor Williams used a hammer to inflict injuries to her face, after claiming she'd been injured by a grooming gang Credit: Facebook

The 22-year-old had falsely claimed she had beaten by a grooming gang when CCTV showed she had bought a hammer in a Tesco in Barrow and inflicted the injuries on herself.

  • Eleanor Williams buying a hammer at a self-service checkout in Barrow

When police made inquiries, they found she had travelled to the seaside resort alone and stayed in a hotel, where she bought a Pot Noodle from a nearby shop and then remained in her room watching YouTube on her phone.

Woman who made grooming gang claims guilty of perverting course of justice
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Sentencing her, Judge Robert Altham, the Recorder of Preston, in a first for cameras in a north west courtroom, said it was "troubling to say the least she showed no signs of remorse".

  • Jordan Trengove gave his reactions to Williams' sentencing outside Preston Crown Court

In a letter read to the court, Williams said she had not instigated anything which happened in the community and did not want Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, to come to the town.

She said: "I do not agree with his views or opinions."

In the letter to the judge, she said: "I'm not saying I'm guilty but I know I have done wrong on some of this and I'm sorry.

"I'm devastated at the trouble that has been caused in Barrow, if I knew what consequences would have come from that status I never would have posted it."

Handing her eight and half years in jail, he said the harm she had caused to the men she had accused was high.

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