Eleanor Williams says she loved man she claims trafficked her

A woman accused of lying about being the victim of a grooming gang has told a court she was in love with the man she claims trafficked her.

Eleanor Williams, 22, from Barrow in Cumbria, told jurors at Preston Crown Court she was "happy" with Mohammed Ramzan but then he started making her do "sexual favours" for friends.

Mr Ramzan previously told the court Ms Williams' claims were "disgusting".

She denies eight counts of perverting the course of justice.

On the opening day of her defence, Ms Williams told the jury she met Mr Ramzan, who denies any wrongdoing, at a birthday party in Barrow when she was 12 years old.

She said she went on to work in his restaurant and he became her "boyfriend" after they had sex.

She told the court: "I thought it was love, I thought he loved me, so I was happy about the situation."

But, she said Mr Ramzan started getting "more angry" and wanted her to do "sexual favours" for his friends.

She described being at a private function at the restaurant, where about 40 men were attending a Ramadan feast, when Mr Ramzan asked her to have sex with his friend.

She said: "He told me it was a big deal, that his friend was going to commit suicide, that he'd love me even more if I done it, and I believed him."

Ms Williams said she felt "dirty" afterwards but she had sex with the man between 12 and 20 times as, if she, refused Mr Ramzan would "just get angry, I mean physically violent".

Ms Williams, of Teasdale Road in Barrow, said Mr Ramzan promised it would be a "one-time thing" but she was introduced to "more and more men".

She described how Mr Ramzan would pick her up from school in a BMW and take her to addresses where other men were present.

Williams told the court she had a clear memory of the first time she was taken to a house, when there had been eight other men there and she had sex with "two or three" of them.

She said she felt "dirty and horrible".

Asked why she did not tell anybody at the time, she said: "It was hard to explain and I didn't want to. I hated myself."

The trial continues.

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