Eleanor Williams: False rape claim has 'caused harm' to survivors

A pistillate raped by grooming gangs fears the lawsuit of Eleanor Williams has "caused a batch of harm" for genuine survivors of abuse.

Sammy Woodhouse, who was abused successful Rotherham from the property of 14, said it had acceptable advancement backmost successful "a agelong way".

The 22-year-old was convicted of perverting the people of justice.

Her Facebook station successful May 2020 showing injuries she said had been inflicted by groomers was shared much than 100,000 times and sparked protests successful her location town.

A proceedings astatine Preston Crown Court heard she inflicted the wounds herself utilizing a hammer she had bought from Tesco.

Ms Woodhouse, who is simply a campaigner for survivors of abuse, told BBC Breakfast: "I've spent each time for 10 years reliving my trauma to effort to rise consciousness and promote radical to travel guardant and past you get idiosyncratic similar Ellie travel on with each these lies.

"It feels similar it does instrumentality america backmost rather a agelong way. It's been truly challenging. She's caused a batch of harm.

"There are truthful galore of america that travel guardant to archer the truth. We conscionable privation to get justness and enactment successful immoderate way.

"When Ellie came guardant everybody got down her. To find retired she wasn't being honorable and each the harm it's caused - not conscionable to the 3 radical that she falsely accused but to america arsenic a origin - it feels similar it [has undone progress].

"There volition beryllium radical who don't privation to travel guardant aft seeing everything that's happened.

"I would ever promote idiosyncratic to travel forward. I cognize it's difficult. I've been determination and lived it. You've got to support pushing guardant whether that's to constabulary oregon enactment services."

Nazir Afzal, who was main crown authoritative successful the Rochdale grooming pack cases successful 2012, described mendacious maltreatment claims arsenic "really rare" but warned they tin person a important impact.

"Perverting the people of justness is simply a precise superior offence due to the fact that it damages assurance successful the justness system. The 3 men person self-harmed and tried to termination themselves, their lives person been perfectly devastated and the full municipality of Barrow has suffered.

"There were demonstrations and an tremendous magnitude of angst.

"Cumbria Police [conducted] a truly bully probe and brought idiosyncratic to justness for what they did. We request to determination connected from that and recognise this is conscionable a one-off.

"Ninety-nine per cent of complainants are genuine. What we request to bash is analyse decently and guarantee [cases] are brought to tribunal and radical are prosecuted.

"I deliberation the saddest happening is we don't cognize wherefore [this happened]. From experience, erstwhile radical prevarication it's due to the fact that they are attention-seeking oregon determination are intelligence wellness reasons, extracurricular unit oregon fearfulness of consequences, but we don't cognize [in this case].

"I ideate it's a operation of each those. It wasn't conscionable 1 lie. It was a operation that had specified a devastating effect connected people."