Ellie Williams found guilty on eight counts of perverting the course of justice.

I was relatively new to the job when the first email pinged in about Ellie Williams and the now infamous post that she'd put on Facebook.

We were locked down. The streets were quiet. And many people were at home, keeping in touch with the world through social media.

The message from a constituent was to the point: "What are you going to do about it?" Soon, there were a deluge of messages. From parents concerned for their children, teachers for the community, community leaders concerned about Barrow's reputation, and then from some of the accused too.

And so began a very long process of learning about Ms Williams' allegations, speaking to the Police, and hearing a great deal from the community in surgeries, in private meetings, and through social media.

The walk to my office in Cavendish Street was marked with posters of elephants with the hashtag #JusticeForEllie, and a similar banner hung across the A590 for a time. And I wasn't surprised in the least.

The community were outraged and didn't know where to turn. The images that Ellie shared were horrific. And the story she told - of being groomed, beaten, and abused - were every parent's nightmare.

That this could happen here, in such a tight knit community, under our noses, exercised people most of all. Stalwarts of the community turned to me time and again: "how did we not know?"

I spoke to the Home Secretary and Victims Minister, raised the issue time and again in Parliament, and worked closely with organisations like Women's Community Matters and national charities that specialise in abuse and violence against women and girls. All the while walking the line of reassuring the community that any allegations were passed on without doing or saying anything that would prejudice the investigation and the pursuit of justice.

And, as with any story like this, the vultures began to circle - those who make their money and reputations out of others' misery, whether selling books or advertising on their websites. The far right were the most obvious and insidious, with the indignity of Tommy Robinson whipping up tensions still further in pursuit of 'justice' being perhaps the icing on the cake.

For many people frustrated with being locked down, of reading about a great injustice being done to one of their own, this provided a perfect opportunity to vent steam. But for a sad minority it spilled out to violence and intimidation. Soon my surgeries were peppered with families who had been torn apart by the allegations made against them, and local people who feared for their and their children's safety due to the colour of their skin.

For a community like ours, where our very geography makes us close, this was unbearable. And for a good deal of these tensions to play out during the lockdown when neighbours were literally each others' lifelines was just heartbreaking to witness.

Ellie was found guilty on all counts by a jury of her peers in unanimous verdicts today. We have to wait until March for sentencing.

But in spite of the resolution that this verdict may bring, there are no winners in this awful case. People's lives have been ruined as a result of her stories, and Barrow has been put through the wringer. One man spent time in prison due to her (false) allegations. Others saw their windows put in. Or received death threats. Others still left town and have not returned. And trust in the Police has been shaken.

I have no doubt that for some this verdict will be little more than evidence of a cover up. But a jury of Ellie's peers disagree after hearing the evidence in a fair trial and we should have faith in their decision.

There are so many victims in this story. Some I have listed above, but there are others that we, as a community, must now seek to support. The first is the real victims of grooming.

While there is no evidence to support Ellie's assertions that Asian grooming gangs operate - or even exist - in Barrow, abuse does. Abuse, whether domestic, or the kind perpetrated by criminal gangs, exists in every town and city in the country. We have a piece of work to do to ensure that those who are genuine victims feel able to come forward to those who are able to support.

The other person in need of support is Ellie herself. It may be her stories that provided the fuel for this fire, and which have unleashed genuine hurt on people and the wider community, but at the end of the day, no person commits the kind of physical abuse against their own body that we saw in that first Facebook post, or fabricates the lies that she did, unless that are deeply unwell. I hope she gets the help she needs.

Ellie's story cannot and must not be a barrier to people asking for help and coming forward. We must work together as a community to ensure that it is the catalyst for protecting more people, rather a barrier that captures them in harmful and abusive relationships, afraid to raise the alarm.

When Parliament returns next week, I plan to discuss this with Ministers, and I look forward to working with the local Police, Council and other community groups too.

If you need help or want to speak to someone there are national and local organisations who stand ready to support. I've listed a few below.

• Women's Community Matters (Barrow) 01229 311 102 | reception@womenscommunitymatters.org

• The National Domestic Abuse Hotline 0808 2000 247

• The Men's Advice Line 0808 801 0327

• And if you are in immediate danger, call 999.

Since the allegations first surfaced three years ago, Barrow and Cumbria Police have come in for a huge amount of abuse. At the time, the lead investigator told me that they would just have to keep their heads down and get on with the job. That they did, and while it hasn't been an easy time for them, I'd like to thank them for their stalwart professionalism and meticulous work.

I hope that we as a community can now begin to heal, learn lessons that will better protect genuine victims, and look to a brighter future.