logo
EXCLUSIVE Revealed: Stepfather of grooming gang fantasist Eleanor Williams is fighting for his life after being battered at home

EXCLUSIVE Revealed: Stepfather of grooming gang fantasist Eleanor Williams is fighting for his life after being battered at home

Daily Mail​14-07-2025
The stepfather of grooming gang fantasist Eleanor Williams is fighting for his life after being allegedly attacked in his family home, Mail Online can reveal.
Ronnie Johnston, 57, was discovered with life-threatening injuries at the end-terrace property in Teasdale Road, Barrow, shortly before midnight on Saturday.
A 19-year-old man at the address, found by paramedics with a broken arm, was arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
A woman at the scene, 54, was also arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
Painter and decorator Mr Johnston is the stepfather of Eleanor Williams, 24, who falsely claimed she was trafficked and beaten by an Asian gang in Cumbria.
She alleged she had been brutally raped and trafficked across the north of England and overseas in a string of Facebook posts in May 2020, shared more than 100,000 times.
Her purported ordeal sparked protests and months of unrest in her home town, and prompted thousands to donate cash.
Williams was later convicted of perverting the course of justice when her dramatic accounts were exposed as being completely fantastical.
A Cumbria police spokesperson said: 'Police were contacted at 11.54pm on July 12 by North West Ambulance Service after they were called to a report of two people injured at an address at Teasdale Road, Barrow.
'One man, 19, had sustained a suspected broken arm, while another, 57, had sustained life-threatening injuries.
'Initial investigations were carried out and the 19-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and escorted to Furness General Hospital for treatment.
'The man, 57, was taken to hospital in Preston where he remains in a critical condition.
'A woman at the scene, 54, was also arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
'Investigations remain ongoing. Residents may notice a larger-than-normal police presence in the area as a result.'
A trial at Preston Crown Court heard Williams inflicted the wounds herself using a hammer and she was jailed for eight-and-a-half years in March 2023.
Three men falsely accused over a three-year period were driven to the brink of suicide after being targeted.
One of them - Jordan Trengove - spent more than 70 days in prison, sharing a cell with a convicted sex offender after he was charged as a result of Williams' bogus claims.
Her mother Allison Williams, 54, a former Labour councillor, was later accused of refusing to return £22,000 donated by well-wishers.
She later said she donated the funds to two homeless charities.
Williams was released from prison in January under the Government's early release scheme designed to free up space in prisons.
The serial liar was revealed by Mail Online to be making a 'new life for herself' outside of Barrow.
A source said: 'She was a model prisoner and she was no threat to society at all. She was working during her time in jail as a receptionist for an electrical equipment company and proved to the authorities that she was suitable to be released.
'She's currently living outside Barrow and doesn't know whether she'll be able to return.
'It's an isolated town where everyone is involved in everyone else's business which would make life impossible for her at the moment.'
Cumbria Police added: 'Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101, referring to incident 355 of July 12.
'Alternatively you can contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.'
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

West Ham unlikely to start legal battle with the FA if Lucas Paqueta is cleared of spot-fixing after two-year saga and collapse of dream Man City move
West Ham unlikely to start legal battle with the FA if Lucas Paqueta is cleared of spot-fixing after two-year saga and collapse of dream Man City move

Daily Mail​

time8 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

West Ham unlikely to start legal battle with the FA if Lucas Paqueta is cleared of spot-fixing after two-year saga and collapse of dream Man City move

West Ham are unlikely to start a furious legal battle with the FA if Lucas Paqueta is cleared of spot-fixing in a two-year saga that led to the collapse of an £85million move to Manchester City. The bombshell verdict on whether Paqueta deliberately picked up four yellow cards during Premier League matches to influence betting markets is due to land in the coming days with sources suggesting the Brazilian is expected to be cleared. Paqueta was on the verge of a mega move to Manchester City in August 2023 when Mail Sport broke the news that the Brazilian was under investigation by the FA for four suspicious bookings. City pulled the plug as soon as West Ham made them aware of the investigation, costing Paqueta a dream move, potentially his entire career, and West Ham a huge payday. The investigation and trial is believed to have cost the club nearly £2m in fees and it remains to be seen whether the FA will have to stump up the bill, though club insiders believe it unlikely. West Ham will look to sell Paqueta this summer to help fund Graham Potter 's squad overhaul but stand no chance of landing a fee anywhere near as large. Paqueta's potential clearing has led for calls from the fan base to take action against the FA for the club missing out on a huge windfall. They needed to sell players before they could buy this summer to keep in line with PSR rules and they didn't make their first signing until Mohammed Kudus's £55m move to Tottenham. West Ham are furious at how long the trial has taken, and the toll it has taken on Paqueta, however senior Hammers sources told Mail Sport the club would not consider taking action against the FA. It's understood West Ham don't think it would be good for football if they were to sue the game's custodians. An emotional return to hometown club Flamengo is a possibility for Paqueta, though sources say the Hammers would want in way in excess of £25m otherwise will not consider selling him.

West Ham make decision on Lucas Paqueta's future at the club - with the Brazilian expected to be cleared of spot-fixing charges
West Ham make decision on Lucas Paqueta's future at the club - with the Brazilian expected to be cleared of spot-fixing charges

Daily Mail​

time10 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

West Ham make decision on Lucas Paqueta's future at the club - with the Brazilian expected to be cleared of spot-fixing charges

West Ham United are ready to cash in on Lucas Paqueta this summer – two years after missing out on an £80million payday when the FA's investigation thwarted his big-money move to Manchester City. Paqueta had been considered untouchable to potential suitors with the spot-fixing charges hanging over him which could have robbed him of his entire career. But Mail Sport has learned the Hammers are open to letting Paqueta leave for less than half of that old £80m valuation now that he is in line to be found innocent of picking up yellow cards on purpose in Premier League fixtures to influence betting outcomes. It is believed a bid in the region of £30m in this window could be enough to convince the Hammers to part with their Brazilian star. Paqueta's former club Flamengo are among those who have been interested in the 27-year-old. Their sporting director Jose Boto told Mail Sport during their Club World Cup campaign last month that they are targeting European experience, having brought in Jorginho from Arsenal earlier this summer. Flamengo have been waiting to discover whether Paqueta was deemed guilty by the independent panel who tried his FA case, though they are not alone in that regard. The attacking midfielder is expected to attract several suitors after yesterday's news that he is set to be found innocent. Official confirmation has not yet come from the FA. City's interest in Paqueta came when he was at the peak of his powers, having played the pass that set up Jarrod Bowen to win them the 2023 Conference League final in Prague. Paqueta's current contract expires in 2027, though West Ham do hold the option of tying him down for an additional year. They signed him for £51m from Lyon in 2022.

I was Fred West's son: Dad was a monster but my psychopath mum Rose was even worse
I was Fred West's son: Dad was a monster but my psychopath mum Rose was even worse

Daily Mail​

time40 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

I was Fred West's son: Dad was a monster but my psychopath mum Rose was even worse

Barry West was just seven when he watched his parents beat his sister Heather to death at their Cromwell Street home in Gloucester. The son of Fred and Rose West died of a painkiller overdose, aged 40, in 2021 after telling a doctor his life was 'not worth living'. Between 1967 and 1987, Fred and Rose tortured, raped, and murdered at least 12 young women in Gloucester, including two of their own daughters, before Fred died by suicide and Rose was sentenced to life in prison in 1995. In a previously unshared interview, that took place two years before his death, Barry told the Mirror that his father was a 'solid monster' but it was his mother that was 'a complete psycho'. The deviant couple married at Gloucester Register Office in January 1972 and moved into a three-storey property at 25 Cromwell Street shortly afterwards. It was here, in what was dubbed the 'House of Horrors', that the majority of their victims were found buried in the garden and cellar in 1994. Among their 12 victims was their eldest daughter Heather, who was 16 when West killed and dismembered her, and Charmaine, Fred's eight-year-old daughter from his first marriage to Rena Costello. During their time together, Fred and Rose shared ten children in total - including five they had together. Then there were the two girls, including Charmaine and Fred, as well as three daughters Rose gave birth to after becoming pregnant from clients she slept with while working as a prostitute. Barry was Rose and Fred West's youngest child, with the couple also parents to daughters Heather Ann, Mae June and Louise, alongside son Stephen, 45. In June 1987, Heather, 16, became the final victim of the Wests after suffering years or trauma and abuse at the hands of her parents. Barry, then seven, witnessed the death of his sister at the hands of her parents. Taken into care five years later, he was too scared to give evidence at his mother's 1995 trial and was plagued by nightmares and psychiatric problems his entire life. 'That's what people don't know: My mum was, child abuse-wise, the main person,' Barry said. 'My mum was completely sick in the head. She beat me way more than my dad did, and enjoyed it, absolutely enjoyed it.' Barry's bedroom had been in the soundproofed cellar at 25 Cromwell Street, where the West children were often locked in overnight with Rose wearing the keys around her neck. Opening up about the abuse he suffered, he revealed that Rose would violently lash out straggling and even stabbing her children. Barry said that his nose had become deformed due to the number of times she broken it and that she would regularly beat him with a giant wooden spoon which would split his head open. 'She was just as sick as him. Her moods didn't change. She used to hit us even on Christmas Day. She used to smack you straight in the mouth,' Barry added. He recalled one Christmas where he hid his Brussels sprouts behind the back of a chair and when Rose found it days later, she made him eat the rotting vegetable before forcing him to swallow his own sick. Barry described his father as 'disgusting man' who forced him into sexual situations with his mother at just eight or nine'. He claimed Fred regularly spoke about wanting to take his daughters' virginity in front of him , telling him about about the family tradition of incest, and sex with animals. According to Barry, the children would answer to phone to take booking for Rose when she working as a prostitute and he was also offered up to clients. He recalled his mother telling him 'there's a man in here and I want you to do exactly what he tells you to do, no matter what'. Charmaine West (pictured) was murdered by Rose West at the age of eight and buried in the garden by Fred upon his release from prison Mae West (pictured as a teenager) was not taken into care and is believed to be the only one of the siblings who maintained contact with Rose after she was imprisoned Stephen West pictured as a young boy with his dad Fred and his sister Heather, whose grave he was made to dig The man became a regular and repeatedly raped him as well as having sex with Rose. He claimed he and his sibling were made to watch homemade porn featuring their mother. Barry admitted that he thought about killing his father and stabbed him with a screwdriver when he was aged 11. However, Fred just laughed at him, he said. 'Why didn't we all run away?,' Barry asked. He responded to himself by saying his 'dad was like God' who 'you couldn't beat' as 'he would find you.' His older sister Heather's death acted as a warningr. The rest of the children were told she'd moved away, but it went on to become a family 'joke' that if your crossed Fred and Rose, you could suffer the same fate - dead under the patio. Inside the House of Horrors: How Fred and Rose West killed 12 people and buried them in their Cromwell Street home Fred and Rose West are believed to have killed at least 12 people, with most of the victims subject to rape and other forms of sexual torture before their eventual deaths. The couple married at Gloucester Register Office in January 1972 and moved into a three-storey property at 25 Cromwell Street shortly afterwards. It was here, in what was dubbed the 'House of Horrors', that the majority of their victims were found buried in the garden and cellar in 1994. Rose and Fred's first victim was teenager Lynda Gough, who the couple met through a male lodger in early 1973. Her body was found dismembered, with bones missing, in a pit beneath the couple's garage in Gloucester. A further five victims were murdered and buried in the cellar at Cromwell Street between November 1973 and April 1975. The first of these victims, Carol Ann Cooper, 15, was abducted in November 1973. Cooper lived in the Pines Children's Home in Worcester, and was kidnapped after spending the evening at a cinema with her boyfriend. As had been the case with Lynda, Cooper died from strangulation or asphyxiation, before her body was dismembered and buried in a shallow, cubical grave in the cellar. Four further victims, aged between 15 and 21, suffered a similar fate over the next 17 months. Fred's first wife Rena was also murdered aged 27 after her daughter Charmaine was killed in 1971. It is understood Fred killed teenager Anne McFall, who was pregnant with his child, in July 1967. Her body was found in 1994 buried in a cornfield, with her limbs severed and several of her bones missing. The pair also killed their daughter Heather in June 1987. Their children began to come forward about the abuse they suffered at the hands of their parents in 1992. Social services then started investigating Fred and Rose and later questioned Heather's disappearance. They were granted a search warrant for the Cromwell Road property in 1994 and Fred later confessed to the murder of his daughter. Fred killed himself in prison in 1995 while awaiting trial on 12 murder charges. His wife, 67, was sentenced to life in jail without parole for ten murders.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store