The extraordinary fake grooming scandal - and the evidence that points to some truth beneath the deceit

The case of Ellie Williams and the fake grooming scandal is one of the most extraordinary stories I have ever worked on.

Warning: Some readers may find this content distressing.

Despite four-and-a-half years investigating the case, I still don't know the answer to two key questions: why did she lie? And was there any truth to what she was saying?

And that is one of the many reasons I can't leave this story behind.

There is no doubt Williams told some incredible lies.

The teenager from the Cumbrian town of Barrow-in-Furness had posted on Facebook in May 2020 that she was the victim of an Asian grooming gang.

I was at her trial at Preston Crown Court as it emerged she had claimed she had been trafficked to Ibiza and sold at an auction in Amsterdam.

CCTV was played during the court case showing her buying a hammer in Tesco that the prosecution said she used to inflict horrific injuries upon herself.

Her lies would see her sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in jail in March 2023.

But there is more to her story - evidence that wasn't heard in court, and people I have spoken to over the years, that would point to there being some truth buried beneath the deceit.

Fresh questions in case

The three-part Sky Documentaries series Groomed: The Truth Behind The Lie aims to get to the heart of some of those truths.

Building on the journalism of the Sky News podcast series, Unreliable Witness, and with exclusive access to key contributors including Williams' family, it raises fresh questions about the case, and asks: what was actually happening in Barrow? And did the focus on proving that one teenager lied obscure the fact that grooming had been taking place?

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by any of the five men that Williams was convicted of lying about.

However, another man that Williams had named as an alleged abuser would later, along with two of his brothers, be found guilty of the sexual exploitation of children in Barrow - the very town where she had claimed to be a victim.

A perpetrator, known as Sarj (full name Shah Joman Miah), who was operating in plain sight and whose crimes had gone unpunished for more than 15 years.

Rape and trafficking claims

The series hears from survivors Ruth and Laura (not their real names), who describe the Miah brothers' predatory and controlling behaviour between 2008 and 2010 - carried out from a flat above the family takeaway - for which they were eventually jailed in February 2025.

The series also tells the story of another young woman, Ellie Reynolds, who went to school with Ellie Williams.

Ms Reynolds has waived her right to anonymity and alleges Sarj was one of three men who raped, trafficked and beat her over several years, beginning in 2014, when she was 13.

The allegations were reported to police, but it was determined by prosecutors that no further action should be taken. Police have since reopened their investigation into Ms Reynolds' allegations that she was a victim of child sexual exploitation. Sarj has been approached for a response to her claims against him, but he declined to respond.

Sarj is a man who Williams had written about in her diary, and who her mother Allison had emailed police about in late 2019 - months before he and his brothers were charged in August 2020 over historical allegations.

Were all Ellie Williams' injuries self-inflicted?

Williams was regularly going missing and then later being found badly injured and apparently drugged. The prosecution said the injuries were self-inflicted and she was "play-acting".

In Groomed, though, we reveal evidence that would suggest not all of her injuries were caused by herself, including that from a psychiatric report, written by a forensic psychologist when she was in prison on remand.

This had reviewed Williams' medical notes, and at one of her 18 visits to A&E in 2019, a medical professional had recorded "there is obvious bruising all over her body which I feel in my opinion is not self-inflicted".

The psychiatric report concluded that Williams was "likely to have been the victim of child sexual exploitation" (CSE) with injuries the result of abuse in the context of CSE and "inflicted by other people."

Missed opportunities

It is not just the unanswered questions about Williams that have kept me on this story for so long.

It is also because what happened in Barrow more widely reveals a troubling picture of missed opportunities and institutional failures, one that echoes cases up and down the country over decades.

The women in Barrow had to fight and wait years for justice - some still don't have theirs.

And the opaqueness of cases like this only breeds suspicion, and can therefore be co-opted and exploited by those who can use it to their political advantage. Simon Fell, the former local MP, told us the far-right now has a permanent foothold in Barrow as a result of this case.

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How have police responded?

Cumbria Police told Sky News: "All of Eleanor Williams' allegations were investigated thoroughly and there was no evidence of any involvement by the Miah brothers."

The force said Williams' "allegations were proved to be lies with evidence fabricated in an attempt to support those lies, resulting in convictions for multiple offences of perverting the course of justice".

It added it has made significant progress in strengthening its response to child sexual exploitation in recent years, with measures in place to prevent harm, support victims, and bring offenders to justice.

Protecting children and young people is one of the force's top priorities, Cumbria Police said.

Only Williams herself will be able to answer the question about why she lied. I hope to be able to ask her one day - after being released from prison she was placed under strict licensing conditions, preventing her from communicating with journalists.

Her mum Allison told us: "Who will believe her now anyway?" I would still like the opportunity to ask her face-to-face.

Groomed: The Truth Behind The Lie, produced by Sandpaper Films in co-production with Full Story Films, will be broadcast on Sky Documentaries at 9pm on 2 August and will be available as a box set on Sky and NOW.

(c) Sky News 2026: The extraordinary fake grooming scandal - and the evidence that points to some truth ben