Liar: The Fake Grooming Scandal - BBC Three release date, who is Ellie Williams, what did Facebook post say?

BBC Three are examining the Ellie Williams fake grooming case in a brand new documentary, Liar: The Fake Grooming Scandal, which is set to air this week. In May 2020, Eleanor "Ellie" Williams' Facebook post went viral, causing anger and outrage in her Cumbria town of Barrow-in-Furness. There was just one catch, despite claims of trafficking and sexual assault along with gruesome photos which included bruises and a severed finger, it was all fake.

Her allegations caused local Asian businesses to be attacked and had devastating impacts for the men she falsely accused. Now featuring never-before-seen-footage, this new hour-long documentary explores the work of police officers and how Ellie went from victim to suspect.

Liar: The Fake Grooming Scandal synopsis

Ellie Williams went viral in May 2020 after she shared a Facebook post accusing an Asian grooming gang of trafficking and sexual assault. This brand new hour-long film explores how the 22-year-old's claims had a devastating impact in her home town of Barrow-in-Furness, despite them turning out to be entirely false.

Directed by Jack Rampling (We Are England), the documentary will feature the specialist detectives who responded to Ellie's allegations, featuring never-before-seen police footage and testimony as officers soon began to realise that the case they were investigating was very different than they had expected.

What did Ellie William's Facebook post say?

In May 2020, Ellie Williams took to Facebook to share a post that alleged she had been trafficked and sexually assaulted by an Asian grooming gang. Her post began, "This is the hardest post I’m ever going to write...", and included horrific details of violent physical and sexual assaults. It was also accompanied by disturbing photos of injuries including cuts, an eye swollen shut and even a severed finger.

She claimed she "had been put into the back of a car, taken to an address to have sex with three Asian men" and that she was "beaten because I was in debt to these men for not attending ‘parties’ for over seven weeks due to coronavirus."

Her post quickly went viral, with people in her town of Barrow-in-Furness and further afield speaking out in support of her, there was even a Facebook group called Justice for Ellie which at one point had 100,000 members.

The things Ellie had described in her post mirrored that of the sexual abuse scandal in Rochdale which had made headlines in 2012. Anger in the community spread fast with local Asian supermarkets and businesses being attacked and demonstrations being held across cities in Northern England.

However, it was Ellie herself who was arrested, charged with seven counts of perverting the course of justice and was accused of making multiple false allegations against real people, who were left to deal with the devastating consequences of her false allegations.

What happened to Ellie Williams?

In March 2023, after a police investigation and subsequent trial, Ellie was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison. The judge described her claims as "complete fiction". The prosecution accused her of using the BBC Drama Three Girls, which told the true story of the Rochdale abuse case and the plot of the movie Taken, to concoct her claims.

Liar: Fake Grooming Scandal on BBC Three - how to watch

Liar: Fake Grooming Scandal will be available to watch on BBC Three on Wednesday, January 17 at 9pm.