Woman jailed for causing outcry with lies about Asian grooming gang on Facebook

A young woman named Eleanor Williams has been sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in jail for conspiring to pervert the course of justice after falsely claiming to have been victimized by an Asian grooming gang in Barrow-in-Furness. Williams, who was 22 at the time, posted images of supposed injuries and gave a detailed account of being trafficked, groomed, and beaten by the gang on social media. Her post went viral, shared more than 100,000 times, and led to the creation of a Facebook group called ‘Justice for Ellie’. However, Williams’ accusations were entirely false, and the innocent people she accused faced death threats and other abuse. Williams was sentenced at Preston Crown Court, where Mohammed Ramzan, a businessman she had accused, described the death threats he had received due to her false claims. The Honorary Recorder of Preston, Judge Robert Altham, noted Williams’ lack of remorse and that her lies had led to considerable racial tension in the town of Barrow, including some families moving out and harm to various businesses.