Eleanor Williams trial: Jury told to consider her injuries

A jury was told Eleanor Williams was vulnerable to abuse due to her background

Jurors must consider what caused a woman accused of lying about an Asian grooming gang to have a "disturbing amount" of injuries, her lawyer said.

Eleanor Williams, of Barrow, Cumbria, is accused of perverting the course of justice by telling police she had been raped, groomed and trafficked.

In her closing speech, Louise Blackwell KC asked the jury to look at photos she said were taken by Ms Williams.

The 22-year-old denies eight counts of perverting the course of justice.

The jury at Preston Crown Court was shown photographs taken by Ms Williams in 2019 and 2020 showing injuries, including bruising to her hip, abdomen, legs and eyes, as well as wounds to her elbow and breast.

"We, on behalf of the defence, say to you this poses a very important question, which is what has happened to Miss Williams?" Ms Blackwell said.

She told the court the photographs were not considered by forensic pathologist Dr Alison Armour, who looked at pictures of injuries suffered by Ms Williams in May 2020 and found they were consistent with being self-inflicted.

"Dr Armour's evidence does not cover the vast majority of injuries," she added.

"We can see, over a period of time, a substantial and, I submit to you, disturbing amount of injuries to Miss Williams.

"What has happened to Miss Williams that she ends up with these sorts of injuries?"

Ms Blackwell told the jury Ms Williams said she had been a victim of sexual abuse.

She said: "At the heart of this case is that she says from a very young age she has been abused."

She said Ms Williams had been vulnerable to abuse because of her background, coming from an economically-deprived area, with problems of violence within the family and the involvement of social services.

"Those aspects of her life were in her formative years, you might think all those things might combine together to give her a particular vulnerability," she said.

'Chaotic lifestyle'

Ms Blackwell described Mohammed Ramzan, a business owner accused of grooming Miss Williams, as a "powerful and influential man" in Barrow.

She told the jury: "The defence case is it was not just Miss Williams, that there was a network of both Asian men and girls being abused and trafficked during a period of time."

She said Mr Ramzan's businesses, which included takeaways and ice cream vans, would be ways of gaining access to young girls.

Ms Blackwell told the jury Ms Williams led a "chaotic lifestyle" and listed a number of occasions in 2019 and 2020 when she had been reported missing or taken to hospital.

She said: "We invite you to say in this case there is considerable room for doubt."

Ms Williams denies eight counts of doing acts tending and intended to pervert the course of justice.

Judge Robert Altham is due to sum up the case on Friday and the trial continues.