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Eleanor Williams 'was just trying to get people to listen to her,' her mother says after three men nearly kill themselves The mother of a young woman who falsely claimed she was the victim of an Asian grooming gang has spoken out after her daughter was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison. Eleanor Williams, from Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, was sentenced at Preston Crown Court on Tuesday after making a series of false accusations of rape which led to three of the accused men attempting suicide after being arrested for the accusations.
In a Facebook post in May 2020, Williams posted photos of brutal injuries she said were inflicted on her by an Asian grooming gang, but the court heard that she inflicted them herself.
Eleanor Williams shared photos of her injuries but they were self-inflicted
His mother, Allison Johnston, a former Labor councillor, was in court when the judge handed down the sentence.
Speaking after her daughter's sacking, Ms Johnston told Sky News: '[I'm] heartbroken. I can't [describe it]. I still can't really take it in. It just doesn't seem real.
When asked why her daughter told such lies, she added: "I think she was just trying to get people to listen to her."
In separate comments to LBC, Ms Johnston said: 'I was just hoping for a longer prison sentence for Ellie. I think the judge was very fair in considering her age and her vulnerabilities.
Asked how she felt hearing the allegations in court, she said: "It was really hard to listen, as a mother, it's hard to accept that she's responsible for everything she said." But in the eyes of the law, I have to accept this. There's a call in progress, so we'll have to wait and see what happens.
Williams' sister, Lucy, also spoke to Sky. Although she accepted the testimony of the accused men who appeared in court, Lucy said she believed Williams had been injured by men on other occasions.
Lucy claims that Williams received "constant" and "very strange" phone messages, as well as threats on Snapchats.
His mother, Allison Johnston, spoke to the broadcaster through tears.
He admitted that his sister was not auctioned off on a trip to Amsterdam, as he claims, since they shared a room and nothing was out of the ordinary.
But they had other experiences, says Lucy.
She said: 'One of the men was harassing Ellie in the bar and some of our friends saw him and warned him. And there was a takeout around the corner from the disco, and Ellie was coming home that night with me.
“He grabbed her out of the takeout and started pulling on her arm saying, 'Come on, let's go.'
"And she was like, 'No, I'm going to my sister,' and her face, I was so mad at her. She came home with me, and then the next weekend she came back black and sad, worse than us. ". have you ever seen.
Williams' lies were undone by CCTV footage when he claimed he was a victim.
Lucy added that it was she who urged Williams to turn himself in to the police after seeing the extent of his injuries.
In comments on the sentencing that were broadcast on television, Preston Judge's honorary rapporteur, Robert Altham, said: "It is disturbing, to say the least, that she shows no significant signs of remorse."
He said there was no explanation as to why the defendant made the accusations, which he called "complete fiction".
He added: "Unless and until the defendant decides to say why she told these lies, we won't know."
In January, a jury found Williams guilty on eight counts of acts intended to pervert the course of justice. He pleaded guilty to a ninth count at an earlier hearing.
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