A woman who falsely claimed she was trafficked to Blackpool to be ‘raped by grooming gangs’ and was jailed for her lies has had an appeal to extend her sentence rejected.

The case of Eleanor Williams, 22, was referred to the Attorney General’s Office under the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme after she was jailed in March for eight and a half years.

Williams, of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, was found guilty of eight counts of perverting the course of justice and pleaded guilty to a ninth following a trial at Preston Crown Court.

The court heard how she had falsely claimed to have been the victim of an Asian grooming gang, after writing a Facebook post in May 2020, which was shared more than 100,000 times, in which she described being beaten, abused and trafficked by Asian men.

However, it was all lies, with injuries she posted actually being self-inflicted with a hammer, and evidence completely vindicating the innocent men she had accused of grooming, trafficking and raping her over a number of years.

One man, Mohammed Ramzan, received death threats as a result of her lies, after she accused him of trafficking her to brothels in Amsterdam when she was 12, and taking her to Blackpool to be raped by men.

In reality, she had travelled to the Fylde coast alone, and spent her visit watching videos on her phone in a hotel with a Pot Noodle.

She also falsely accused a man she met by chance in Preston city centre of being a trafficker who plied her with drugs, raped her, and sold her to other men.

Her lies caused significant uproar in Barrow, with protests outside police stations and even a visit to the town from far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson.

Following a referral from a member of the public to the Attorney General’s Office, Williams’ case was considered to see if there were grounds to refer the case to the High Court for being unduly lenient.

If the appeal had been successful, the case would then have been sent to the Court of Appeal.

The highest court in the land would have then either extended her sentence, left them the same, or refused to hear the case.

However, after consideration, the Attorney General’s office made the decision not to refer Williams’ case to the Court of Appeal.

This means her sentence will remain the same.