It’s the height of lockdown, 19-year-old Ellie Williams claims on social media she's been raped and exploited by an Asian grooming gang across the north of England. Photos of her alleged injuries add to the outrage and the post goes viral - shared more than 100,000 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 her trial, the prosecution say she 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 truth buried among the lies.  
With access to her family, police investigators and those most impacted by her allegations, we ask: Is Ellie Williams a villain - or a victim of something else? And what happened after the trial - once all the media attention died down and new allegations began to emerge?   
This is episode one of Unreliable Witness. For the full season, follow Unreliable Witness wherever you get your podcasts. 

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 [email protected]

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.

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.

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.

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.


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. Marketing by Anna Phelan. If you were impacted by this story please email the StoryCast team on [email protected]