MP's call for healing after abuse ordeal

THE last decade has seen Northern towns such as Oldham, Rotherham and Rochdale thrust into the spotlight because of the organised child grooming gangs preying on vulnerable local victims.

- ROB PARSONS

And in May 2020, Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria looked like going the same way.

A local woman, Eleanor Williams, claimed she was the victim of an Asian grooming gang and published pictures of her injuries and an account of being groomed, trafficked and beaten, on Facebook in a post shared more than 100,000 times.

The post sparked demonstrations in her home town and led to English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson visiting the town to "investigate" the claims.

But this week, at Preston Crown Court, Williams, 22, of Teasdale Road, Barrow, was convicted of eight counts of perverting the course of justice. The jury was told she inflicted the injuries on herself with a hammer and had falsely named a number of innocent people as being responsible for trafficking and abusing her.