The high-profile case of Ellie Williams, the young woman jailed for lying about sexual assault and grooming, is investigated in a new Sky News podcast.
Last year, Ellie received an eight-and-a-half-year sentence for perverting the course of justice after claiming she’d been trafficked by an Asian gang.
The police found holes in her story and said she had fabricated text messages and that her injuries were self-inflicted.
From the Sky News award-winning documentary strand, StoryCast, Unreliable Witness investigates why Ellie Williams, an otherwise normal young woman, created such an elaborate lie. It also looks at what happened after the trial – once the media attention faded and other allegations began to emerge.
With new and exclusive access, Sky News speaks to Ellie’s mum and sister, and victims of her allegations, to get a better understanding of what really happened – raising fresh questions relating to the case.
Sky News Home Affairs Editor Jason Farrell and producer Liz Lane, who reported on the case at the time, return to Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria to investigate what could have led Ellie to make these claims and if, underneath it all, there is a secret buried amongst the lies.
Jason Farrell, Sky News Home Affairs Editor said: “This is one of the most extraordinary cases Liz Lane and I have ever worked on.
“This tale of secrets and lies twists and turns with each new perspective. We get out our magnifying glass and try to go beyond the question put to the jury which was, did she lie? We ask why did she lie?”
Unreliable Witness launches on Monday 25 March, with the final episode released on Tuesday 2 April on the StoryCast feed. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
