This is the terrifying moment a schoolgirl is abducted by a convicted killer as she heads home after studying for her exams at a local library.
The 15-year-old was walking along a ‘millionaire’s row’ after calling her boyfriend to say her mobile phone was running out of battery.
Paul Sharpe, 56, who previously served a life sentence for strangling a woman who called into his radio show, was meanwhile pretending to try doorbells on the street in Altrincham, Greater Manchester.
CCTV captures the chilling moment the overweight murderer – wearing a high vis jacket to avoid arousing suspicion – spots the teenager and crosses the street towards her.
Approaching the unsuspecting girl from behind, he then placed her in a headlock and threatened to stab her if she did not get into his car.
Feeling a knife pressed against her and fearing for her life, she complied, beginning a terrifying eight-hour hostage ordeal as he took her captive and sexually assaulted her at multiple locations.
In what a judge today praised as a ‘remarkable’ piece of bravery and presence of mind despite fearing she would be murdered, the schoolgirl secretly placed strands of her hair around the interior of Sharpe’s car during her ‘harrowing’ ordeal in a bid to ensure traces of her DNA would later be found.
After her family reported her missing, police were able to link her to the vehicle with the help of the ‘find my’ application on her iPad, which was still in her bag.
Paul Sharpe subjected the 15-year-old to an eight-hour hostage ordeal during which he plied her with alcohol and sexually assaulted her
Police bodycam shows the moment police arrested Sharpe and rescued the terrified schoolgirl from his car
They used CCTV cameras to trace the car to a hotel car park in Knutsford, Cheshire at 3.45am the next day.
Armed police descended on the vehicle and ordered Sharpe to get out, rescuing the ‘visibly shaking’ girl, who had a cut to her knee and bruises but was otherwise physically unhurt.
Police bodycam footage shows Sharpe appearing to tell officers ‘She’s not been harmed’ as he is arrested and led away.
As a judge today imposed another life sentence with a minimum of eight years behind bars, he branded Sharpe ‘every parent’s worst nightmare’ and someone with ‘dark sexual desires’.
In a victim personal statement, the girl described the attack as the ‘worst eight hours of my life’ and how she ‘feared that she was going to be raped, drugged and murdered’.
Sharpe had been jailed for life in 2001 after murdering 28-year-old Sarah Widdup, who he seduced when she contacted his phone-in show.
But he was released on parole in 2013 – with her relatives telling the Daily Mail earlier this year that Sharpe should never have been released.
His latest victim was walking home through a street of £1million houses at around 7.15pm one evening in May 2026 when Sharpe targeted her.
Convicted killer Paul Sharpe (pictured) had a kitchen knife in his pocket when police arrested him
Sharpe (in high vis jacket) pictured outside a gated house in Altrincham, Greater Manchester as his unwitting teenage victim walks along the opposite pavement
Alaric Bassano, prosecuting, told Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester how Sharpe got his victim in a chokehold, told her he had a knife, and demanded she get into his car, which was fitted with drapes to prevent anyone seeing inside.
He also invented a story that she was being taken because her father ‘owed someone money’.
During her ordeal Sharpe asked her ‘keep talking’ to him, Mr Bassano said.
She did so ‘in the hope by giving herself a personality, the defendant would be less likely to harm her’, the court heard.
He demanded that she drank a yellow-coloured liquid from a vodka bottle.
The convicted killer also ordered her to stretch out her legs so he could ‘smell’ her feet, warning he would ‘go into desperation’ if she made a ‘bad decision’.
After telling her she needed to be ‘sleepy’, she pretended to be intoxicated and ‘stumble about’.
After his arrest a kitchen knife was found in his trouser pocket, while neck ties, several pairs of tights, women’s shoes and bottles containing alcohol were also recovered.
Detectives later uncovered evidence of his sexual interests, which included a foot fetish.
Beautician Sarah Widdup was murdered by Sharpe, who she had been dating, in October 2000
Former radio DJ Paul Sharpe was jailed for life in 2001 for the murder of Ms Widdup
He had also searched pornographic sites with search terms including ‘sleepy teen’ and ‘white socks.
Police also found AI generated images of unconscious schoolgirls in the back of a car on his phone and an evidence of an interest in ‘sexual kidnap’.
When interviewed by detectives, Sharpe said he’d been feeling ‘overwhelmed’ because he had no electricity at home, was on the verge of driving ban and had quit his job.
Sharpe, of Stockport, previously pleaded guilty to six offences including kidnapping, sexual assault and threats with a blade.
Judge Mark Savill praised the ‘remarkable’ girl for ‘having the presence of mind’ to leave traces of her DNA in Sharpe’s car.
As he taken down to the cells, Sharpe mouthed ‘I’m sorry’ to the victim’s family in public gallery.
Afterwards Hannah Gee, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said it had been a ‘harrowing experience for the victim and her family’.
Detective Inspector Karl Perry, of Greater Manchester Police, said: ‘This was a terrifying ordeal for a young girl who was simply making her way home.
‘Sharpe targeted a vulnerable victim, subjected her to hours of fear and intimidation, and went on to sexually assault her.
‘Through her bravery and actions, she no doubt made it harder for Sharpe to carry out whatever acts he had planned.’
Paul Sharpe’s Ford Focus arriving at a hotel car park as he transports the teenage victim around all night
Sharpe pictured being led away in handcuffs
Sharpe murdered beautician Ms Widdup in 2000 after the beautician called his late-night show on Tower FM, in Bolton, Greater Manchester.
They arranged a dinner date and embarked on a passionate romance, but he ‘flipped’ and killed her when she tried to break it off.
The following day callous Sharpe picked up Ms Widdup’s ten-year-old son from school and dropped him at a neighbour’s home, before going on the run.
Sharpe handed himself into police four days later and was jailed for life with a minimum term of 11 years in March 2001.
Demanding tougher punishments for killers after his latest offence, Ms Widdup’s relative told the Daily Mail: ‘If he’d been given the sentence he should have had, he would not have been out and he wouldn’t have been able to carry out the attack.
‘It will have a massive impact on the girl and on her family.
‘What he did had a massive impact on us and devastated her son.
‘If you take a life, you should serve life.’
A serious further offence review will now take place to understand how Sharpe was able to reoffend despite being monitored by probation staff, with the results shared with the girl’s family.
Government figures show 26 per cent of criminals reoffended in 2022-23, an increase on the previous two years.
MPs have warned that the probation service in England and Wales is at the brink of collapse.
It comes amid anger at Labour’s controversial soft-justice plan to start releasing waves of killers, rapists and violent criminals from jail.
Ministers have set out a timetable that will see thousands of prisoners walk free – although murderers and other criminals serving life sentences will not be eligible.
After Sharpe admitted abducting the girl, a Ministry of Justice spokesman said: ‘These crimes were horrific, and our thoughts remain with the victims and their loved ones.
‘The offender is now rightly back in custody and we will take any necessary action identified in a serious further offence review which is underway.
‘Decisions to release life-sentenced prisoners are made by the independent Parole Board and while fewer than 0.5% of those under Probation Service supervision commit serious further offences, we know they have a life-changing impact on victims and their loved ones.
‘This Government is investing a record £700million into probation and community supervision and recruiting an extra 1,300 probation officers to protect the public.’
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