Paul Sharpe threatened his victim at knifepoint and sexually assaulted her
21:15, 03 Jul 2026Updated 21:15, 03 Jul 2026
The victim was kidnapped on Bradgate Road in Altrincham(Image: Jason Roberts /Manchester Evening News)
A convicted murderer from Stockport has pleaded guilty to a string of offences after subjecting a 15-year-old girl to a terrifying ordeal in which he kidnapped her at knifepoint and held her hostage for hours in his car.
Paul Sharpe, from Portwood, pleaded guilty at Minshull Street Crown Court today (July 3) to six offences including kidnapping, sexual assault, sexual activity in the presence of a child and making threats with a bladed article.
Police discovered the 56-year-old in a hotel car park in Knutsford in the early hours of May 19 this year with the girl in his vehicle, which he had forced her into on Bradgate Road in Altrincham the previous evening, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
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The service said it was a ‘protracted’ and ‘terrifying’ ordeal where Sharpe, said to be a convicted murderer, tied up her wrists and feet and masturbated in her presence.
The kidnapping took place at around 7:30pm on May 18 when Sharpe threatened her with a knife, put her in a headlock and forced her into his car.
Claiming that her father owed him money, he drove them to a car park at the airport and tied her wrists and ankles with a necktie.
Throughout the evening Sharpe proceeded to move around different car parks, forcing the girl to drink alcohol, sexually assaulting her and, on one occasion, masturbating whilst touching the victim’s feet.
The ordeal only ended when police arrested Sharpe in a hotel car park some eight hours after the girl was kidnapped. She had been reported missing to police by her mother, after which extensive CCTV enquiries allowed detectives to identify his car.
“In interview, Sharpe claimed that he had been feeling bad and so he kidnapped the girl thinking it would be easier than kidnapping an adult,” the CPS said.
“He said he wasn’t thinking clearly and his intention was to release her when it was light, then end his own life. He claimed his motives weren’t sexual but admitted being aroused by smelling her feet.”
He pleaded guilty to the charges today, which also included committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence, and administering a noxious thing ‘with intent to injure, aggrieve or annoy’.
In a statement, senior prosecutor for the CPS Hannah Gee said: “Paul Sharpe, a convicted murderer, kidnapped an innocent girl at knifepoint in broad daylight.
“In this terrifying incident, the victim was held captive for eight hours while Sharpe forced her to drink alcohol and sexually assaulted her.
“Sharpe gave no thought to the impact his actions, for his own depraved reasons, would have on his victim.
“Although his guilty pleas today have spared her from the ordeal of a trial, I would like to thank the girl, and her family, for supporting this prosecution and ensuring this dangerous offender is back where he belongs.”
Sharpe will be sentenced at Minshull Street Crown Court on 4 September 2026.