Convicted murderer Paul Sharpe has been sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of eight years, after kidnapping a 15-year-old girl at knifepoint and sexually assaulting her during an eight-hour ordeal in Greater Manchester and Cheshire.
Sharpe, 56, of Stockport, admitted six offences at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court, including kidnap, sexual assault, threatening the girl with a bladed article and engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.
The attack took place on 18 May, when Sharpe approached the girl as she walked along Bradgate Road in Altrincham. He put her in a headlock, pressed a knife against her and forced her into the back of his grey Ford.
He claimed that her family owed him money before driving her to a car park near Manchester Airport, where he tied her wrists and ankles with a necktie. He then took her to a series of locations across Greater Manchester and Cheshire, forcing her to drink alcohol and changing her clothes.
The girl’s family contacted police at 9.22pm after she failed to return home. Her boyfriend was able to provide officers with location information from an iPad in her bag, which was linked to the Find My service.
At around 12.09am, the device indicated that she was near Rostherne Lane in Knutsford. A member of the public later reported seeing a light-coloured vehicle near a cemetery and hearing what sounded like a distressed female.
Police used CCTV, automatic number plate recognition and phone data to identify Sharpe’s Ford Focus. Officers from Cheshire Police found him and the girl inside the vehicle in a hotel car park near Knutsford at about 3.40am on 19 May, and immediately safeguarded the victim.
The Crown Prosecution Service said Sharpe had held the girl captive for eight hours and sexually assaulted her. He had pleaded guilty in July, avoiding the need for the victim to face a trial.
Greater Manchester Police said the girl had been making her way home after studying at Sale Library when she was targeted. Detective Inspector Karl Perry said she had shown “immense courage” throughout the investigation and court proceedings.
Sharpe was previously jailed for life in 2001 for murdering 28-year-old Sarah Widdup in Bolton. He had met Ms Widdup after she contacted his phone-in show on Tower FM, based in Greater Manchester.
