Moment £20,000 Range Rover Evoke owned by family of jailed rape fantasist Eleanor Williams bursts into flames in suspected arson attack
- Allison Johnston managed to get out of the car before it burst into flames
A Range Rover Evoke owned by the family of jailed fantasist Eleanor Williams has been destroyed in a suspected arson attack.
Terrified Allison Johnston, the convicted liar’s mother, saw smoke when she climbed into the vehicle outside her home in Barrow, Cumbria.
The 51-year-old managed to jump out of the £20,000 car before it burst into flames and escaped shaken but unscathed.
The former Labour councillor rang 999 and the fire brigade rushed to the scene on Wednesday.
Cumbria Police are now investigating the incident.
Terrified Allison Johnston, the mother of the convicted liar, saw smoke when she climbed into the vehicle outside her home in Barrow. She managed to get out before it burst into flames
The former Labour councillor rang 999 and the fire brigade rushed to the scene on Wednesday
Allison said: ‘It’s terrifying to think someone might want to do me and my family harm.
‘I hoped it was an electric fault but the fire brigade told me they thought it was deliberate.
‘That’s definitely my fear, that someone did this on purpose to try and hurt me.’
Allison has been regularly abused in the street after her daughter was convicted of perverting the course of justice and jailed for eight and a half years.
She has insisted her daughter is innocent and come under pressure to return £22,000 that was donated by well-wishers after she first made her false claims.
Allison with her daughter Eleanor, who was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison
Eleanor was just 19 when she claimed, on Facebook, to be the victim of sex trafficking by an Asian grooming gang.
She alleged the men had drugged, beaten and blackmailed her, and was accused of being inspired by BBC drama Three Girls and film Gone Girl.
The fantasist protested her innocence throughout but was convicted and jailed for eight and a half years on March 14 at Preston Crown Court.
A spokesman for the Cumbria force said: ‘Nobody was hurt in the fire.
‘Officers have liaised with Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service and enquiries are taking place to fully establish the cause of the fire.’
Eleanor was just 19 when she claimed, on Facebook, to be the victim of sex trafficking by an Asian grooming gang
