Grooming fantasist’s mum won’t hand back £22k justGiving cash
Fundraiser says money must go to charity as lies exposed
EXCLUSIVE BY
JOHN SIDDLE
A WOMAN whose daughter lied about being raped by an Asian grooming gang has still not returned £22,000 given by duped well-wishers.
More than 1,000 donated when Eleanor Williams, then 19, claimed in 2020 she had been trafficked and beaten in Barrow, Cumbria.
The money was meant to help her pay her legal bills to “bring her attackers to justice”.
But last month her dramatic accounts were exposed as fantasies when she was found guilty of perverting the course of justice.
Around £22,000 raised on JustGiving went to her mum Allison Johnston – who says she still believes many of her daughter’s claims despite the verdict.
The man who launched the appeal has urged her to hand it back to him straight away so he can give it to two charities.
Fundraiser Shane Yerrell said: “People donated out of the kindness of their hearts and we were all tricked. I keep messaging her about it but she keeps stalling and claims she needs to take legal advice.
“Her daughter was convicted more than a month ago – the money should be returned. The fundraising appeal was based on lies. It seems wrong for the family to have the cash.”
Mrs Johnston, a Labour councillor for Barrow, was suspended by the party after the trial pending an investigation.
Speaking about her daughter to MailOnline, she said: “There were some things she claimed that I do believe were not true but I do believe that substantially she was telling the truth and she was the victim of abuse.” Williams, now 22, was
APPEAL Shane Yerrell
convicted at Preston Crown Court on January 3 and will be sentenced in March.
A jury heard she made up elaborate stories and even hit herself with a hammer.
Williams accused one man of selling her at a slave auction in Amsterdam but phone and bank records placed him in B&Q in Barrow at the time.
Some of the accused men – one of whom spent 10 weeks on remand in jail – said her lies had ruined their lives.
JustGiving paid the fundraising cash to Mr Yerrell who then sent it to Mrs Johnston.
A contract apparently allows her to keep it until July – after which it must go to charity.
Two charities have declined the cash but the James Bulger Memorial Trust and a Barrow-based charity will take it.
Mr Yerrell added: “The circumstances have changed entirely from when the contract was drawn up.”
JustGiving said: “The amount donated was released to the fundraiser in line with our usual process.”
Mr Yerrell, 39, a Tory councillor from Waltham Abbey, Essex, has raised thousands of pounds for people going through traumatic situations since he was attacked by thugs in 2007. Mrs Johnston has been approached for comment.
The appeal to raise £22,000 was based on lies
SHANE YERRELL
ESSEX FUNDRAISER