London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 01, 2025

Eleanor Williams jailed over false rape claims

Eleanor Williams jailed over false rape claims

A woman who falsely claimed she was raped by multiple men and trafficked by an Asian grooming gang has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years.

Eleanor Williams sparked protests in her Cumbrian home town of Barrow after posting photos on social media of injuries she said were from beatings.

But Preston Crown Court heard she inflicted the wounds herself using a hammer.

Williams, 22, was found guilty of perverting the course of justice.

A two-day sentencing hearing was told three men Williams falsely accused over a three-year period tried to take their own lives after being targeted and suffering "hell on earth".

One of them - Jordan Trengove - spent 73 days in prison, sharing a cell with a convicted sex offender after he was charged as a result of Williams' claims.

They had been on a night out in March 2019 when she was taken home after becoming intoxicated.

Williams later alleged Mr Trengove had raped her that night, and then on two more occasions, claiming he attacked her and threatened her with a knife.

The court heard he had the word "rapist" spray painted across his house.

Eleanor Williams' trial was told she inflicted injuries on herself with the hammer


Barrow businessman Mohammed Ramzan, who Williams claimed to have worked for, was accused of grooming her from the age of 12 and putting her to work in brothels in Amsterdam. He said he had 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.

When police made inquiries, they found she had travelled 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.

Meanwhile, Oliver Gardner said a chance encounter with Williams in Preston one night led to him being accused of being a rapist who had trafficked her and sold her to two Asian men.

As a result of the accusations he was sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

Honorary Recorder of Preston Judge Robert Altham said Williams had experienced difficulties since childhood and had a history of self-harm.

However, he said her allegations were of the utmost severity and it was troubling there had been "no significant sign of remorse" and "no explanation why the defendant would commit these offences".

Describing her claims as "complete fiction", he said: "Unless and until the defendant chooses to say why she has told these lies we will not know."

The judge added: "She's gone to extraordinary lengths to create false accusations including causing herself significant injury."

The claims had created a "state of heightened tension" in Barrow for about four months, he said, with police describing the turbulence as being like nothing seen in the town for decades.

Falsely-accused Jordan Trengove (centre) spent 73 days in custody


Social media threats were made against the local force, the court heard, with a caravan of demonstrators travelling in vehicles from Barrow to Ulverston and back after Williams posted the pictures on Facebook in May 2020.

Protests were held outside the police station and on a retail park. Videos of an appearance in the town by English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson were shown in court.

Judge Altham said: "Police were under pressure from those who believed they were complicit in a cover-up on one hand and those who felt unsafe at the hands of vigilantes on the other."


'Trouble caused'


Before Judge Altham began his sentencing remarks, the defence read a letter from Williams in which she said she knew she had "done wrong over some of this" and was "sorry" but added she did not accept she was guilty.

She said she was "devastated" by the "trouble caused" by her Facebook post and added "if I knew what consequences would come from the status I would never have wrote it".

She said "anything that happened in the community was not instigated by me and my family did not want Tommy Robinson in town".

Mohammed Ramzan (second right) told the court his family had been targeted "in the most horrendous way"


Mr Trengove told reporters he did not think the sentence was long enough and that he planned to take action against the police.

Meanwhile, Mr Ramzan said he felt "no sense of triumph, only sadness", adding: "I'm not sure how the family and I are going to recover from this. Mud sticks and I fear it may take some time."

Williams was found guilty in January of eight counts of doing acts tending and intended to pervert the course of justice. She had earlier pleaded guilty to one further count.

However, last month she announced she had launched an appeal against her conviction.

Supt Matthew Pearman, of Cumbria Police, said Williams' allegations "could not have been taken any more seriously when she initially came forward" as a "large-scale investigation" was started.

"This has been a lengthy, complex and ultimately tragic case, as well as a dark period for Barrow," he said.

"I hope that the full story, now it is in the public domain, will demonstrate that the police take allegations of sexual and physical abuse extremely seriously and will investigate thoroughly.

"I urge anyone who has been the victim of sexual or physical abuse to report it today. You will be listened to and supported."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
×