A 21-YEAR-OLD accused of making false rape and trafficking allegations has been branded a ‘serial liar’ at the start of her trial.

Eleanor Williams, of Teasdale Road on Walney, is charged with seven counts of perverting the course of justice in relation to claims made to police.

Opening the case at Preston Crown Court, Jonathan Sandiford described Williams as a ‘serial liar’ who, on a number of occasions between October 2017 and May 2020, made false allegations that she had been victim of sexual offences and violence - and that she had been trafficked in the UK and abroad for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

He said Williams fabricated messages and caused injuries to herself with a hammer.

Williams denies all the charges.

The Crown also claim Williams manufactured fake and false evidence to support her claims and made false allegations at various times to work colleagues at the bar she worked at in Barrow; medical professionals and to police.

Prosecutors also claim she made up evidence she was taken to Ibiza to be abused and made to work in an Amsterdam brothel.

As a result of her allegations, people were arrested and interviewed by police, the court heard.

One of which was Jordan Trengove who was arrested and kept in custody for a number of months because of false allegations made against him by Williams in March to May 2019, the prosecution claims.

Police looked at CCTV to check Williams’ claims and instead what they found is that Williams had fabricated evidence, said the Crown.

Mr Sandiford said: “Unfortunately, the fact that Williams’ lies and false allegations had been exposed by the police did not cause her to stop. Instead, Williams continued to fabricate evidence to try and make it appear that her false claims of being trafficked for sexual exploitation were true.”

On a number of occasions, Williams presented herself at railway stations or to hospitals or police in a vulnerable and injured state, alleging that she had been sexually assaulted and subjected to violence by her traffickers, the prosecution said.

“Why would you not take it at face value – an apparently vulnerable young woman presenting herself in that way?” Mr Sandiford said.

The prosecution put forward to jurors that Williams manipulated phone and social media contacts to make it appear she was in contact with more fictitious traffickers or victims of trafficking.

On May 19, 2020, Williams failed to return home as expected and was reported missing, the court heard, and police found her with ‘significant injuries; to her face, body, limbs and a very badly cut finger’.

She told police she had been taken to a house in Barrow, gang raped, beaten and attacked with a knife.

And the next day, Williams made claims in a public post on Facebook, the court heard.

Police inquiries established that ‘none of what Williams had alleged was true’, Mr Sandiford said.

The prosecution claims Williams' injuries were ‘self-inflicted with a hammer’ that the police recovered in a field near to where Williams was when she failed to return home.

The prosecution will continue its opening statement before the defence team takes the stand.