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“Not many people want to hear my side of the story, and no one ever has,” writes Eleanor Williams from prison. The young woman whose lies caused uproar in a peaceful seaside town feels misunderstood.

Warning: This article contains images people may find distressing

In May 2020, Williams claimed on Facebook to be the victim of an Asian grooming gang in Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria.

Her post was shared more than 100,000 times and sparked protests. Police say more than 150 crimes were committed by others as a result of her claims.

In January 2023, the then 22-year-old was found guilty of making it all up and faking evidence to support her lies. Headlines described her as a “serial liar” and a “fantasist”.

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Why did Ellie Williams create elaborate lie?

Yet despite the 11-week trial, the young woman at the centre of the storm has remained a mystery.

Now for the first time since she was jailed, we hear from Williams herself from inside prison, where she is serving an eight-and-a-half-year sentence.

I first contacted her a couple of months after she was sentenced, via an app that allows you to email inmates.

I didn’t get a reply for weeks and then one day out of the blue, I did.

Eleanor Williams
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The injuries Eleanor Williams claimed were caused by her attackers were self-inflicted, a court heard


“Sorry I haven’t replied,” Williams wrote. “I’ve been really busy, and I know it sounds crazy because I’m in jail, but I have just started work in here for an outside company and I have a reception orderly job as well so I’m working from 8.30 to 8.30 every day, and never seem to have a moment spare.”

She tells me she’s learning to drive forklift trucks and that she loves her new job.

Eleanor Williams
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Eleanor Williams claims ‘not many people want to hear my side of the story’

“I’m OK now,” she wrote. “The trial was hard but I’m moving forward now. Just working hard to make the days go quicker and I’ll be out of here soon enough.”

The overall impression is of a young woman who is trying to keep her head down, stay busy and look to the future.

Williams’ mother Allison Johnston says she and her daughter have discussed Eleanor changing her name and moving away from Barrow when she is released, but she thinks she’ll want to be back with her family.

Eleanor Williams' mother Allison Johnston
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Eleanor Williams’ mother Allison Johnston

And in one of her emails, Williams writes about knitting a hat and mittens for her sister’s baby, adding: “I’ve done a little crochet puppy teddy, and a hand drawn nursery rhyme book.”

Over a couple of months in the summer of 2023, Williams and I exchange a number of emails.

Read more:
How Eleanor Williams’ false claims unravelled
Sexual abuse victims reveal impact of Eleanor Williams case
Introducing… Unreliable Witness

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March 2023: Lives ruined by false grooming claims

I can’t ask her about the case. There are strict rules about prisoners communicating with journalists. They’re not allowed to discuss their crimes.

But every now and then, Williams lets on that it still plays on her mind.

“Not many people want to hear my side of the story, and no one ever has,” she wrote. “The media only says what sells and not the rest of it.”

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March 2023: ‘Eleanor Williams shows no remorse’

Williams did give her story in police interviews, but it was contradicted by CCTV, phone records, expert witnesses and online activity. And she did testify at her trial, but the jury didn’t believe her.

Much has been written about Williams without ever really answering the fundamental question – why did she, a seemingly normal young woman, create such an elaborate lie?

Our new podcast series, Unreliable Witness, delves deep into the background of this case – we speak to those closest to her, the police investigators and those most impacted by her allegations – in an attempt to find out.

From Sky News' award-winning StoryCast, Unreliable Witness looks at the story of Ellie Williams

Reporting with Jason Farrell, home editor

Podcast series producer: Anne-Marie Bullock

Executive producer: Louise Cotton

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Police search for missing sisters last seen three days ago near Aberdeen river

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Police search for missing sisters last seen three days ago near Aberdeen river

Specialist search teams, police dogs and divers have been dispatched to find two sisters who vanished in Aberdeen three days ago.

Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday.

The siblings were captured crossing the bridge and turning right onto a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.

Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
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Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland

Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
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Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland

Police Scotland has launched a major search and said it is carrying out “extensive inquires” in an effort to find the women.

Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Local officers, led by specialist search advisors, are being assisted by resources including police dogs and our marine unit.”

Aberdeenshire Drone Services told Sky News it has offered to help in the search and is waiting to hear back from Police Scotland.

The Huszti sisters. Pic: Police Scotland
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CCTV of the sisters. Pic: Police Scotland

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The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.

Police said the Torry side of Victoria Bridge where the sisters were last seen contains many commercial and industrial units, with searches taking place in the vicinity.

The force urged businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review CCTV footage recorded in the early hours of Tuesday in case it captured anything of significance.

Drivers with relevant dashcam footage are also urged to come forward.

CI Bruce added: “We are continuing to speak to people who know Eliza and Henrietta and we urge anyone who has seen them or who has any information regarding their whereabouts to please contact 101.”

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Britain’s gas storage levels ‘concerningly low’ after cold snap, says owner of British Gas

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Britain's gas storage levels 'concerningly low' after cold snap, says owner of British Gas

Britain’s gas storage levels are “concerningly low” with less than a week of demand in store, the operator of the country’s largest gas storage site said on Friday.

Plunging temperatures and high demand for gas-fired power stations are the main factors behind the low levels, Centrica said.

The UK is heavily reliant on gas for its home heating and also uses a significant amount for electricity generation.

As of the 9th of January 2025, UK storage sites are 26% lower than last year’s inventory at the same time, leaving them around half full,” Centrica said.

“This means the UK has less than a week of gas demand in store.”

The firm’s Rough gas storage site, a depleted field off England’s east coast, makes up around half of the country’s gas storage capacity.

Gas storage was already lower than usual heading into December as a result of the early onset of winter.

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Combined with stubbornly high gas prices, this has meant it has been more difficult to top up storage over Christmas.

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UK’s first taxpayer-funded injection room to open in radical move to tackle drugs epidemic

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UK's first taxpayer-funded injection room to open in radical move to tackle drugs epidemic

Glasgow has been a city crying out for solutions to a devastating drugs epidemic that is ravaging people hooked on deadly narcotics. 

We have spent time with vulnerable addicts in recent months and witnessed first-hand the dirty, dangerous street corners and back alleys where they would inject their £10 heroin hit, not knowing – or, in many cases, not caring – whether that would be the moment they die.

“Dying would be better than this life,” one man told me.

It was a grim insight into the daily reality of life in the capital of Europe’s drug death crisis.

Scotland has a stubborn addiction to substances spanning generations. Politicians of all persuasions have failed to properly get a grip of the emergency.

But there is a new concept in town.

From Monday, a taxpayer-funded unit is allowing addicts to bring their own heroin and cocaine and inject it while NHS medical teams supervise.

A dirty needle thrown less than 100 metres from the new injection centre
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A dirty needle thrown less than 100 metres from the new injection centre

It may be a UK-first but it is a regular feature in some other major European cities that have claimed high success rates in saving lives.

Glasgow has looked on with envy at these other models.

One supermarket car park less than a hundred metres from this new facility is a perfect illustration of the problem. An area littered with dirty needles and paraphernalia. A minefield where one wrong step risks contracting a nasty disease.

Drugs paraphernalia in a supermarket car park in Glasgow, near the new facility
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Drugs paraphernalia in a supermarket car park in Glasgow, near the new facility

It is estimated hundreds of users inject heroin in public places in Glasgow every week. HIV has been rife.

The new building, which will be open from 9am until 9pm 365 days a year, includes bays where clean needles are provided as part of a persuasive tactic to lure addicts indoors in a controlled environment.

There is a welcome area where people will check in before being invited into one of eight bays. The room is clinical, covered in mirrors, with a row of small medical bins.

Clean needles are provided to lure addicts to inject in a controlled environment
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Clean needles are provided to lure addicts to inject in a controlled environment

One of the eight bays users can inject in
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There are eight bays users can inject in

We were shown the aftercare area where users will relax after their hit in the company of housing and social workers.

The idea is controversial and not cheap – £2.3m has been ring-fenced every year.

The aftercare area
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The aftercare area

Read more: ‘Dying would be better than my £1,000 a month heroin addiction’

Authorities in the city first floated a ‘safer drug consumption room’ in 2016. It failed to get off the ground as the UK Home Office under the Conservatives said they would not allow people to break the law to feed habits.

The usual wrangle between Edinburgh and London continued for years with Downing Street suggesting Scotland could, if it wanted, use its discretion to allow these injecting rooms to go ahead.

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The stalemate ended when Scotland’s most senior prosecutor issued a landmark decision that it would not be in the public interest to arrest those using such a facility.

One expert has told me this new concept is unlikely to lead to an overall reduction in deaths across Scotland. Another described it as an expensive vanity project. Supporters clearly disagree.

The question is what does success look like?

The big test will be if there is a spike in crime around the building and how it will work alongside law enforcement given drug dealers know exactly where to find their clients now.

It is not disputed this is a radical approach – and other cities across Britain will be watching closely.

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