Three men tried to take their own lives over woman's rape lies, UK court hears

Three men tried to take their own lives after being falsely accused of rape and trafficking, a UK court has heard.

Eleanor Williams accused the men of attacking her and posted on Facebook in May 2020 that she was the victim of an Asian grooming gang.

The 22-year-old was found guilty of perverting the course of justice in January and was sentenced on Tuesday to an eight-and-a-half years jail term. 

During a sentencing hearing at Preston Crown Court, one of the victims, Mohammed Ramzan, a businessman in Barrow-in-Furness, a port town in Cumbria, England said the lies had made his life "hell on earth".

He said two weeks after he was arrested following Williams' claims, he attempted to take his own life. “I still bear the scars to this day."

Mr. 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, a seaside resort town 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.

Mr Ramzan said his property had been damaged and his businesses had been "ruined" after he and his family were targeted "in the most horrendous way".

"I have had countless death threats made over social media from people all over the world because of what they thought I was involved in," he said.

In a statement read to the court, another victim, Jordan Trengove said the word "rapist" had been spray painted across his house.

He said he spent 73 days in prison, sharing a cell with a convicted sex offender, after he was charged as a result of Williams' claims.

He said: "Things had calmed down a bit until the Facebook post in 2020.

"This made things even worse for me. There were big protests and marches in Barrow.

"The lowest point was when I tried to end my life in August 2020."

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 country's Mental Health Act.

He said: "It was just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time." In his statement, he said he tried to end his life before being sectioned.

Cameron Bibby, who was the first man accused of rape by Williams in 2017, said he had to remove himself from most social media because of abuse and was scared to pick his son up from nursery because of the way people looked at him.

He said after Williams posted her account on Facebook, his neighbours displayed "Justice for Ellie" stickers in their windows, which "intimidated" him.

The court was shown videos of English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson attending protests at Hollywood Retail Park in Barrow in May 2020.

In a statement, Supt Matthew Pearman said there was "unprecedented outcry on social media within the town of Barrow" after Williams posted about her injuries.

He said: "Barrow had not seen such public displays of mass anger for over 30 years."

Louise Blackwell KC, defending Williams, said she "continues in her allegations against the various people in pretty much the same circumstances".