Unreliable Witness | Storycast
Sky News
At the height of lockdown, 19-year-old Ellie Williams claims on social media she’s been trafficked by an Asian grooming gang across the North of England. Photos of her horrific injuries add to the outrage and the post goes viral – shared more than 100 thousand times.
Social media rumours lead to attacks on Asian men and businesses in her hometown of Barrow-in-Furness. But when she’s arrested for perverting the course of justice, things really explode and there are protest rallies and claims of a cover-up. At the trial the prosecution claims she’d lied, faked text messages and even caused the catalogue of injuries to herself.
In season 6 of StoryCast, Sky News’ Jason Farrell and Liz Lane, who reported on the case at the time, return to Barrow to investigate what could have led her to make these claims and if, underneath it all, there is some other secret buried amongst the lies.
With access to her family, police investigators and those most impacted by her allegations, we ask: Why did Ellie Williams create such an elaborate lie? And what happened AFTER the trial – once all the media attention died down and other allegations began to emerge?
For more investigative stories from the award-winning Sky News StoryCast strand, listen to our past seasons.
SEASON 5: Patient 11 (2024)
Following the death of her brother, young mother Alexis Quinn seeks temporary respite in NHS psychiatric care, never imagining that three days, would turn into more than three year ordeal that would ultimately expose a national scandal.
SEASON 4: StoryCast 21 (2021)
Through extraordinary personal stories, Sky News revisits 21 of the world’s biggest news events this century.
SEASON 3: Polonium and The Piano Player (2020)
Two Russian agents release a miniature nuclear weapon in a 5-star London hotel. But former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko is not the only victim.
SEASON 2: What happened to Annie? (2019)
In 2005, the body of 30-year-old Swedish woman, Annie Börjesson, was found on Prestwick beach in Scotland. Could one of the world’s most secretive security agencies be behind her death?
SEASON 1: The Hunt for the Brinks-Mat Gold (2018)
In 1983, an armed gang stole £26m in gold bars from a high-security depot near Heathrow Airport. Dubbed the crime of the century, the heist changed the face of Britain’s criminal landscape and the life of one undercover Scotland Yard detective.
Location:
United Kingdom
Genres:
True Crime
Networks:
Sky News
Description:
At the height of lockdown, 19-year-old Ellie Williams claims on social media she’s been trafficked by an Asian grooming gang across the North of England. Photos of her horrific injuries add to the outrage and the post goes viral – shared more than 100 thousand times. Social media rumours lead to attacks on Asian men and businesses in her hometown of Barrow-in-Furness. But when she’s arrested for perverting the course of justice, things really explode and there are protest rallies and claims of a cover-up. At the trial the prosecution claims she’d lied, faked text messages and even caused the catalogue of injuries to herself. In season 6 of StoryCast, Sky News’ Jason Farrell and Liz Lane, who reported on the case at the time, return to Barrow to investigate what could have led her to make these claims and if, underneath it all, there is some other secret buried amongst the lies. With access to her family, police investigators and those most impacted by her allegations, we ask: Why did Ellie Williams create such an elaborate lie? And what happened AFTER the trial – once all the media attention died down and other allegations began to emerge? For more investigative stories from the award-winning Sky News StoryCast strand, listen to our past seasons. SEASON 5: Patient 11 (2024) Following the death of her brother, young mother Alexis Quinn seeks temporary respite in NHS psychiatric care, never imagining that three days, would turn into more than three year ordeal that would ultimately expose a national scandal. SEASON 4: StoryCast 21 (2021) Through extraordinary personal stories, Sky News revisits 21 of the world’s biggest news events this century. SEASON 3: Polonium and The Piano Player (2020) Two Russian agents release a miniature nuclear weapon in a 5-star London hotel. But former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko is not the only victim. SEASON 2: What happened to Annie? (2019) In 2005, the body of 30-year-old Swedish woman, Annie Börjesson, was found on Prestwick beach in Scotland. Could one of the world’s most secretive security agencies be behind her death? SEASON 1: The Hunt for the Brinks-Mat Gold (2018) In 1983, an armed gang stole £26m in gold bars from a high-security depot near Heathrow Airport. Dubbed the crime of the century, the heist changed the face of Britain’s criminal landscape and the life of one undercover Scotland Yard detective.
Language:
English
Episodes
Unreliable Witness 6: Eleanor Williams – Inside
3/24/2024
Police material is released, taking us to the moments they discover her battered at her flat and the night before her infamous post. They also reveal her reaction when accused of lying. Meanwhile Liz and Jason are given a psychiatric report charting medical records and interviews which reveal more on Ellie’s background and state of mind. And, finally, Liz hears from the young woman at the centre of it all - directly from prison.
Warning: This series discusses issues of sexual abuse, self-harm, violence and suicide
From Sky News Storycast, Unreliable Witness is presented by Jason Farrell and Liz Lane.
Series Producer: Anne-Marie Bullock
Executive Producer: Louise Cotton
Sound Design: Matt Wareham
Additional Journalism: Sarah O’Connell
Sky Podcasts Editor: Paul Stanworth
Duration:00:38:58
Unreliable Witness 5: I’m Coming for You
3/24/2024
It’s revealed Mohammed Ramzan has been facing allegations other than from Ellie Williams. Liz and Jason meet ‘Sarah’ - who says she was groomed as a child in Hull and accuses Mo of being involved in the gang responsible. He claims something more sinister is at play. But his anger at the situation sees him back in court – in the dock.
Warning: This series discusses issues of sexual abuse, self-harm, violence and suicide
From Sky News Storycast, Unreliable Witness is presented by Jason Farrell and Liz Lane
Series Producer: Anne-Marie Bullock
Executive Producer: Louise Cotton
Sound Design: Matt Wareham
Additional Journalism: Sarah O’Connell
Sky Podcasts Editor: Paul Stanworth
Duration:00:31:40
Unreliable Witness 4: The Witness Who Went Home
3/24/2024
Ellie has been sentenced to 8 and a half years in prison but questions have been raised about what evidence was presented and left out in court. One potential witness who wasn’t called on says she could have supported parts of Ellie’s story. Liz and Jason ask why Williams wasn’t prosecuted in relation to the other men she had accused.
Warning: This series discusses issues of sexual abuse, self-harm, violence and suicide
From Sky News Storycast, Unreliable Witness is presented by Jason Farrell and Liz Lane
Series Producer: Anne-Marie Bullock
Executive Producer: Louise Cotton
Sound Design: Matt Wareham
Additional Journalism: Sarah O’Connell
Sky Podcasts Editor: Paul Stanworth
Duration:00:33:44
Unreliable Witness 3: I’m not a Psychopath
3/24/2024
After Covid delays, the trial is finally held and Ellie Williams is in the dock. Liz and Jason were among the reporters at court when the extent of her claims were revealed for the first time, shocking the media and public alike. She’s accused of perverting the course of justice against 5 men, including 4 who are white – of lying to police and falsifying evidence to back up her claims, including causing the horrific injuries to herself. Liz and Jason share some of the shocking twists and revelations of the 11-week trial and what Ellie has to say in her defence.
Warning: This series discusses issues of sexual abuse, self-harm, violence and suicide.
From Sky News Storycast, Unreliable Witness is presented by Jason Farrell and Liz Lane
Series Producer: Anne-Marie Bullock
Executive Producer: Louise Cotton
Sound Design: Matt Wareham
Additional Journalism: Sarah O’Connell
Sky Podcasts Editor: Paul Stanworth
Duration:00:34:48
Unreliable Witness 2: Recipe for a Witch Hunt
3/24/2024
The fuse has been lit...and with limited information from police or in the news, social media speculation starts fingers pointing. Barrow is about to hit boiling point. Asian businesses are attacked. Individuals are targeted. Meanwhile local businessman Mohammed Ramzan is arrested – suspected of being a central figure in the grooming gang. But a senior detective coming onto the case starts to find holes in the account police have been told.
Warning: This series discusses issues of sexual abuse, self-harm, violence and suicide
From Sky News Storycast, Unreliable Witness is presented by Jason Farrell and Liz Lane
Series Producer: Anne-Marie Bullock
Executive Producer: Louise Cotton
Sound Design: Matt Wareham
Additional Journalism: Sarah O’Connell
Sky Podcasts Editor: Paul Stanworth
Duration:00:33:08
Unreliable Witness 1: Who is Ellie Williams?
3/24/2024
Ellie’s family and boss share their worries about her leading up to the infamous Facebook post. Unexplained injuries. Becoming withdrawn. Incessant messages. Harassment on the street. Then she started to go missing regularly. When she suddenly moves out of the family home, her family feel they’re losing contact. Eventually she turns up so badly injured she says she can’t take it any more and goes public with claims on social media that go viral and shock the nation.
Warning: This series discusses issues of sexual abuse, self-harm, violence and suicide. If you feel affected by the issues, you can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK
From Sky News Storycast, Unreliable Witness is presented by Jason Farrell and Liz Lane
Series Producer: Anne-Marie Bullock
Executive Producer: Louise Cotton
Sound Design: Matt Wareham
Additional Journalism: Sarah O’Connell
Sky Podcasts Editor: Paul Stanworth
Duration:00:31:00
Introducing: Unreliable Witness
3/18/2024
At the height of lockdown, 19-year-old Ellie Williams claims on social media she’s been trafficked by an Asian grooming gang across the North of England. Photos of her horrific injuries add to the outrage and the post goes viral – shared more than 100 thousand times.
Social media rumours lead to attacks on Asian men and businesses in her hometown of Barrow-in-Furness. But when she’s arrested for perverting the course of justice, things really explode and there are protest rallies and claims of a cover-up. At the trial the prosecution claims she’d lied, faked text messages and even caused the catalogue of injuries to herself.
In season 6 of StoryCast, Sky News’ Jason Farrell and Liz Lane, who reported on the case at the time, return to Barrow to investigate what could have led her to make these claims and if, underneath it all, there is some other secret buried amongst the lies.
With access to her family, police investigators and those most impacted by her allegations, we ask: Why did Ellie Williams create such an elaborate lie? And what happened AFTER the trial – once all the media attention died down and other allegations began to emerge?
Duration:00:04:50
Patient 11: Episode 4 – Breaking free
1/28/2024
A long serving doctor and his partner agree to help Alexis break out of psychiatric care and flee the country, a decision that has the potential to change all their lives.
This series discusses rape and sexual assault.
Credits -
From Sky News StoryCast, Patient 11 is written and produced by Robert Mulhern. Reporting by Rebecca Thomas and Robert Mulhern. Editing by Paul Stanworth. Data and Forensics by Saywah Mahmood. Social Media by David Chipakupaku. Story commissioner, Dave Terris. Graphics by Kelly Casanova. Press and marketing by Anna Phelan. If you were impacted by this story please email the StoryCast team on storycast@sky.uk
Duration:00:18:46
Patient 11: Episode 3 – Escape Plan
1/28/2024
Enduring long periods in solitary and having descended to the darkest reaches of psychiatric care, Alexis plots an escape, one, that if successful, will take her thousands of miles from England.
This series discusses rape and sexual assault.
Duration:00:19:48
Patient 11: Episode 2 – In harm’s way
1/28/2024
Undiagnosed, legally detained and separated from her daughter for more than a year, Alexis is moved to an all-male psychiatric ward on Christmas Eve, 2013.
What happens next will, ultimately, bring her to the attention of the most powerful institutions in the state.
This series discusses rape and sexual assault.
Duration:00:19:21
Patient 11: Episode 1 – Locked-up and drugged
1/28/2024
Following the death of her brother, young mother Alexis Quinn seeks temporary respite in NHS psychiatric care, never imagining that three days, would turn into more than three years, or that her bid to break free would bring her to the attention of UK and European law enforcement agencies.
This series discusses rape and sexual assault.
Duration:00:19:15
Introducing: Patient 11
1/22/2024
Young mother and former GB youth swimmer, Alexis Quinn, agrees to enter NHS England psychiatric care following a family tragedy. She could never imagine that her three-day admission will turn into a three-year ordeal.
Then undiagnosed with autism, and often the subject of 24-hour surveillance as well as long periods in solitary confinement, Alexis descends to the darkest reaches of locked-in, psychiatric care. There, she encounters the kind of threat she never could have imagined in a secure mental health hospital. In a bid to break free, Alexis plots a daring escape.
Making it back to her daughter, however, will pit her against some of the most powerful institutions in the State, including the police.
A warning, this series contains discussions about sexual assault.
Credits -
From Sky News StoryCast, Patient 11 is written and produced by Robert Mulhern. Reporting by Rebecca Thomas and Robert Mulhern. Editing by Paul Stanworth. Data and Forensics by Saywah Mahmood. Social Media by David Chipakupaku. Story commissioner, Dave Terris. Graphics by Kelly Casanova. Press and marketing by Anna Phelan. If you were impacted by this story please email the StoryCast team on storycast@sky.uk
Duration:00:01:24
Ukraine War Diaries: EP45 – Zelenskyy the great, loving power and ‘the smell of Spring’ (Feb 13-17)
2/17/2023
Ilyas praises Ukraine’s leader after Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s UK visit and is grateful his wife and children, in Poland, don’t have to experience life in the middle of a warzone.
Oksana is happy to have electricity this week and is looking forward to Spring and a trip to Europe, where she’ll be reunited with her best friend after many months apart
And her husband Seva, a military volunteer, has returned from eastern Ukraine and reflects on how he has gotten used to the Russian missile...
Duration:00:12:07
Ukraine War Diaries: EP44 - Barbarity in Bakhmut, bedding parcels & Kharkiv buyer’s guide (Feb 6-10)
2/10/2023
Military volunteer Seva learns about comrades who suffered horrific deaths when he returns to Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
In Kyiv, answering a displaced mother’s call for help leads to an inspiring phone conversation for Oksana.
And Ilyas undertakes an anxious journey hundreds of kilometres across Ukraine to buy a car for his family.
WARNING: Seva’s diary contains graphic references detailing death and torture.
OUR DIARISTS
Seva, 41, is a company CEO and husband to Oksana. Before the...
Duration:00:13:38
Ukraine War Diaries: EP43 - Strollers, sacrifice & the Spring offensive (Jan 30-3 Feb)
2/3/2023
Now more than half-way through the winter, and more than 11 months since his family fled the country, Ilyas makes peace with the realisation that his eldest son is successfully assimilating into life in Poland, a re-location forced upon his family by the Russian invasion.
In Kyiv, conversations with his comrades on the front line forces Seva to yet again match the odds of mounting Russian pressure against the Ukrainian need for ever greater Western firepower.
Meanwhile, amid growing...
Duration:00:12:13
Ukraine War Diaries: EP42 - Tanks, transfers & the threat of doing nothing (Jan 23-27)
1/28/2023
Returning from assignment, Seva speaks with comrades in the eastern city of Bakhmut who are in desperate need of more advanced weaponry but happy to be alive.
In Kyiv, Ilyas turns his birthday into a military fundraising exercise.
And as Ukraine pleads to the West for more heavy weapons, the story of displacement continues as Oksana supports the arrival of more refugees into Kyiv.
OUR DIARISTS
Seva, 41, is a company CEO and husband to Oksana. Before the war, he travelled across Europe...
Duration:00:11:55
Ukraine War Diaries: EP41 - Dnipro, despair & waiting for deliverance (Jan 16-20)
1/20/2023
Seva has a difficult conversation with his sister after a Russian ballistic missile targets her Dnipro neighbourhood, killing 45 people and injuring dozens more.
In Kyiv, Oksana shares some of the stories that have penetrated the soul of the nation and reflects on how the attack is impacting the Ukrainian psyche.
Meanwhile, a conversation between Ilyas and his grandmother - who grew up in the aftermath of World War II - shifts his focus to those ageing citizens who are struggling to cope...
Duration:00:13:48
Ukraine War Diaries: EP40 - Comedy nights, corroding childhoods, & checking out at the gym (Jan 9-13)
1/14/2023
As fighting rages in the east of the country and against the backdrop of mounting casualties in the mining town of Soledar, Oksana finds some unexpected respite at a Kyiv comedy night.
Meanwhile, in an basement gym, Ilyas finds a world removed from war until the building is plunged into darkness.
OUR DIARISTS
Oksana, 35, works in overseas education. She lives with her husband, Seva, in an apartment complex in central Kyiv. Many of Oksana’s closest friends have left the country to begin...
Duration:00:08:51
Ukraine War Diaries: EP39 - Birthday at the pictures, pizza nights & polish pick-ups (Jan 2-6)
1/6/2023
In Kyiv, making use of one of the cities bomb-proofed theatres, Oksana books a comedy night for military volunteer husband Seva.
In one of the capital’s restaurants, Seva begins the new year in the company of army comrades who extend an emotional gesture of brotherhood in the form of a knife.
And after saying farewell to his family, Ilyas transports an old car from Poland ear-marked for frontline soldiers, before finding himself in the blast radius of a missile strike in Kyiv.
OUR...
Duration:00:11:10
Ukraine War Diaries: EP37 - From a city under siege, a very Ukrainian Christmas story
12/16/2022
Alone in his apartment in Kyiv, memories of Christmas past come flooding back to Ilyas. Can he find a way to escape the blitz-like conditions and be reunited with his wife and two sons in Poland?
OUR DIARISTS
Ilyas is an IT specialist and married father who fled from Kyiv to Lviv shortly after the war started. His wife Natalia, and two young sons are taking refuge in Poland. As of December 2022, Ilyas is back living in the family apartment in Kyiv.
Seva, 40, is a company CEO and husband...
Duration:00:08:44