A woman from Cumbria, England, has been sentenced to eight and a-half years in jail after making multiple false rape allegations and sparking protests in her hometown of Barrow. Eleanor Williams claimed she was raped by multiple men and trafficked by an Asian grooming gang, but it was revealed in court that she had inflicted the injuries on herself using a hammer.
Williams, 22, was found guilty of perverting the course of justice, and the court heard how three men she falsely accused over a three-year period suffered “hell on earth” and even attempted to take their own lives.
One of the falsely accused men spent 73 days in prison, sharing a cell with a convicted sex offender, while Barrow businessman Mohammed Ramzan, for whom Williams claimed to have worked, received “countless death threats” on social media.
Williams had given police an account of being taken to Blackpool by Mr. Ramzan, where she said she was taken to different addresses and forced to have sex with several men. However, police inquiries found that she had traveled to the seaside town alone and stayed in a hotel, where she bought a pot noodle from a nearby shop and then stayed in her room watching YouTube.
The case highlights the serious consequences of making false allegations of rape and sexual assault. The falsely accused men suffered immense psychological trauma and had their lives disrupted by the baseless claims, while Mr. Ramzan received death threats as a result.
The sentencing judge described Williams’ actions as “evil,” and said that they had “caused untold damage to the individuals and the wider community.” The case is a stark reminder of the importance of ensuring that allegations of rape and sexual assault are properly investigated and that false accusations are treated with the seriousness they deserve.