A young woman who lied about being raped and trafficked by Asian grooming gangs didn't make up all of her lies, her dad has claimed.
Eleanor Williams, 22, was jailed for eight-and-a-half years this week after spinning a disturbing web of falsehoods that drove three men to try and take their own lives and sparked unprecedented protests in her hometown of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria.
She published pictures of her injuries and an account of being groomed, trafficked and beaten, on Facebook in May 2020, in a post which was shared more than 100,000 times.
Her posts sparked demonstrations that saw businesses vandalised in her home town and led to former English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson visiting the town to "investigate" the claims.
Williams made serious sexual allegations against a large number of men between 2016 and 2020 - but had fabricated evidence including causing physical injuries to herself.
Sentencing Williams, Judge Robert Altham said: "We are aware that the sex trafficking of young females does occur. There is a risk genuine victims will be put off reporting and fear they will not be believed I am sure anyone investigating will do everything they can to support them."
He added: "It is troubling she appears to show no remorse."
Today, Williams' father says he accepts that his daughter fabricated evidence, but says she didn't make everything up.
Peter Williams also blamed the police for not believing her previous abuse claims.
The 54-year-old has not shared when his daughter first reported her abuse, who she accused of abusing her and whether or not these claims have been investigated.
The IT project manager told the MailOnline : "I truly believe that Ellie didn't make everything up. The police wouldn't believe her so she started fabricating evidence, that was her downfall.
"I'm also concerned that the judge gave commendation to the Cumbria Constabulary for such a thorough investigation which makes me believe they were covering their misgivings very carefully.
"That's just my view, but I'm really missing my beautiful daughter."
Williams' sister Lucy, 25, also refused to accept she caused injuries to herself.
She told Sky News this week: "I've never seen anything like it."
William's mum Allison Johnston added: "[I'm] heartbroken.
"I can’t describe it. I still can’t take it in really. It just doesn’t feel real. The person the press is portraying is not the person I know.”
While she said she accepted that her daughter had told lies, she added: “I believe she was just trying to get people to listen to her.”
This week, three men who were falsely accused of rape by Williams told the court the allegations caused them to attempt to take their own lives.
Williams made allegations that Mohammed Ramzan tried to sell her in Amsterdam and took her to Ibiza to work as a prostitute.
He said Ramzan had never really met Williams, had nothing to do with trafficking and barely knew her.
During the trial, Williams' sister gave evidence saying they did take a trip together to Amsterdam and they were never apart.
Mr Ramzan said in a victim's impact statement that he tried to take his own life after his arrested and fears there was a racial element to his ordeal.
Jordan Trengove, who was charged and remanded in custody after the allegations, say that will forever be haunted by his time at HMP Preston.
At her trial, the court heard she had accused a number of men of rape, going back to 2017, and told police she was groomed and trafficked by an Asian gang.
In May 2020, she was found by officers near her home on Walney Island with injuries which she claimed were inflicted by the gang after she was taken to a house in the town and raped.
Williams told officers she had been taken earlier that day in a silver Audi to an address in Barrow where she was raped by Asian men.
She was discovered with hammer injuries to her legs and one of her fingers was partially severed.
CCTV video later showed Williams in a Tesco store buying the weapon herself.
When officers went to the address where Williams claimed this attack happened, they found it had been empty for two years and neighbours said they had never known of anyone of Asian origin either living at the address or coming or going from it.
She created false names and messages to spin a web of lies that she was a victim of sex trafficking.
She even went as far as self-inflicting injuries with a hammer to make her story more believable.
Williams also claimed Ramzan took her to Ibiza to work as a prostitute.
When she was confronted with travel documents, she replaced them with another lie.
She also gave officers names of other reported sex trafficking victims - but all of the women denied it saying it was false.
During sentencing, 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, Superintendent Matthew Pearman said after Williams' Facebook post there was "unprecedented outcry on social media within the town of Barrow".
The court heard there were 151 extra crimes following the Facebook post, including 83 hate crimes.
