Paul Sharpe, then aged 56, of Portwood, Stockport, Greater Manchester, was sentenced to life imprisonment with an eight-year minimum term at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on Friday, 4 September 2026, after kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl.
The conviction follows a prosecution brought by the Crown Prosecution Service North West just over three months after the offences occurred.
The court heard that Sharpe, a convicted murderer, targeted the 15-year-old victim and abducted her at knifepoint.
Sharpe held the child captive for an eight-hour ordeal, during which he forced her to consume alcohol before subjecting her to a sexual assault.
Sharpe entered guilty pleas to six charges:
- Kidnapping
- Committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence
- Sexual assault
- Engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child
- Threatening another with a bladed article
- Administering a noxious thing with intent to injure, aggrieve, or annoy
Senior Crown Prosecutor Hannah Gee commended the victim and her family for their immense courage throughout the legal process, stating that Sharpe subjected the teenager to a harrowing ordeal and that his sentence ensures a dangerous individual is removed from the community.
The presiding judge handed down a life sentence with a specified minimum tariff of eight years’ imprisonment.
Release Calculation: Under UK sentencing legislation governing indeterminate life sentences, Sharpe does not qualify for automatic statutory release on licence. He is required to serve the entirety of his eight-year minimum term in prison custody before becoming eligible to apply for review by the Parole Board in September 2034. Release will only be granted if the Parole Board assesses that he no longer poses a risk to the public, whereupon he will remain subject to licence conditions for the remainder of his natural life.
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