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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Sam Elliott-Gibbs

Chilling moment woman buys Tesco hammer to injure herself and falsely accuse men of rape

This is the chilling moment a young woman bought a hammer she would go on to intentionally injure herself with before falsely accusing a number of men of rape.

Eleanor Williams, 22, lied about being a victim of grooming after publishing pictures of her injuries and an account on Facebook in May 2020.

Today she was sentenced to nearly eight and a half years in prison.

Her posts, shared more than 100,000 times, sparked demonstrations in her home town of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria.

She was found by police in a field close to her home with multiple injuries and her eye swollen shut.

Eleanor Williams has been today sentenced to more than 8 years in prison (Handout)
The judge says she will serve half of this sentence in custody and then be released on licence (Facebook)

The woman was discovered with hammer injuries to her legs and one of her fingers was partially severed.

But CCTV video shows Williams in a Tesco store buying the weapon.

Wearing a bright Adidas bag and headphone, she uses the self service till to purchase the hammer and some other items, including a bottle of water.

She said she had been to catch a bus to Barrow but accepted a lift before claiming she was taken to a property with ten men who raped her.

A few days later police found a hammer near her home, with her blood and DNA on it.

CCTV shows her buying the hammer she claimed to have been attacked with (Police handout)

But a Home Office pathologst said her injuries were completely inconsistent with her account and completely consistent with having caused them herself.

She spoke of being trafficked over a number of years and attempted to create a false alibi for the hammer by asking her sister to tell solicitors it was in her bedroom.

She was found guilty over the lies in January, and the harrowing impact statements from the victims were read out in court ahead of her sentencing on Tuesday.

Mohammed Ramzan said he tried to take his own life after his arrest and fears his ordeal had racist undertones.

He said: "I feel there has been a racial element and it has had an effect on the wider Asian community. I have not done anything to anyone to deserve this.

The hammer Williams bought at Tesco (Police handout)

"Two weeks after my arrest I attempted to take my own life. I still have the scars to this day."

He added: "I had constant death threats from people all over the world because of what they thought I was involved in. I had to give evidence and defend my reputation in court.

"My reputation was destroyed and was very upsetting. I'm not sure how my family will recover from this. It will take time but we are determined to have some positivity in our lives."

Jordan Trengove said in his impact statement his time remanded in custody will haunt him for the rest of his life.

He said: "We had the word 'rapist' sprayed on the house and the window smashed. My mum had to leave the house because she didn't feel safe. I had to give intimate samples which was intrusive and embarrassing knowing I'd done nothing wrong. Then I was charged with rape, remanded in custody and sent to HMP Preston.

She was later found by police in a field with multiple injuries (Police handout)

"I was totally out of my depth and felt no-one was listening to me, being accused of rape and labelled a sex offender. My time on remand will haunt me for the rest of my life. I was put on a sex offenders' wing and was forced to share a cell with a man who told me why he was in prison. I felt sick."

Oliver Gardner said his chance encounter with Williams in Preston led to him being sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

Mr Gardner, who was accused of rape after he met Williams in the city centre, said it was a "real shock" when he was contacted by Cumbria Police and told of her claims.

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. He said: "This whole period in my life has been totally overwhelming."

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