BBC documentary to air about woman who made false rape claims after ‘sex parties’ in Lancaster and Morecambe

A serial fantasist's lies that she was groomed by an Asian gang and suffered sexual abuse, violence and rape at the hands of men in Morecambe, Lancaster and Preston will be revealed in a new BBC documentary. Watch more of our videos on Shots! and live on Freeview channel 276

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Liar: The Fake Grooming Scandal which airs tonight (Wednesday January 17) at 9pm on BBC Three, tracks Eleanor Williams' deceit as it becomes more elaborate over a three year period and shows the scale of her deception. Williams, 23, from Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, was jailed for eight-and-a-half years in March 2023 after being found guilty of perverting the course of justice.

The footage from the investigation includes shocking police bodycam and CCTV as well as interviews with Ellie, which have only been seen in court until now.

Liar: The fake grooming scandal.

In the police interview where Williams made more serious claims.

One video from police body-worn camera shows Ellie with self-inflicted facial wounds while acting drugged, which she claims were committed by members of the fictional gang. It also includes hours of police interviews with Ellie as both a victim and a suspect. The Guardian reported during the court case that Williams was asked about several occasions when she was reported missing by her mother and was found injured and incoherent by police at locations in Morecambe, Lancaster and Preston.

On November 29 2019 officers discovered her collapsed and injured on the Millennium Bridge in Lancaster, 50 miles away from Barrow.

Liar: The Fake Grooming Scandal.

From police evidence - Ellie's injuries.

She was taken by ambulance to the Royal Lancaster Infirmary for treatment. She told the jury she was "off her head" after being given drugs at a party. A few days later she was found at Morecambe railway station, where she again said she had been at parties where she had been forced to have sex with men.

On March 6 2020 she was found in Preston city centre, and again told officers she had been at sex parties. She told the jury she had been given ketamine at the party, where she had been tied to a radiator with duct tape and hit. On March 13 2020 a conductor on a train from Lancaster to Barrow spotted her dishevelled and called the police, concerned for her welfare.

She told the jury she had "done a runner" from a sex party in Lancaster, where three Asian men "cut my boobs". She produced fabricated evidence to support her claims including fake Snapchat accounts and messages. She implicated a number of men who she knew and gave the police fictitious names of people who she said had subjected her to sexual abuse, violence and rape.

Williams also told police that she had been in a sexual relationship with a different man since she was 12 or 13. She claimed that this man and others had trafficked her to various places both inside and outside of the UK and exploited her. Again, that was found to be untrue.

Explanations for Williams' behaviour remain elusive. At her trial, the judge said he had "received much psychiatric evidence in this case - but there is no explanation for why the defendant would commit these offences". But detectives are certain that without their intervention, Williams' lies would have intensified further.

Watch Liar: The Fake Grooming Scandal at 9pm today (Wednesday January 17) on BBC Three.

References

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