Murderer Paul Sharpe admits to kidnap and sexual assault of girl, 15

Paul Sharpe, 56, has pleaded guilty to six offences including kidnapping, sexual assault, and threats with a blade.

At around 7.30pm on May 18, Sharpe abducted the girl on Bradgate Road, near Dunham Massey, and forced her into his car, telling her that her father owed him money.

He then drove to a car park at the airport before tying her wrists and ankles with a neck tie.

Sharpe sexually assaulted the victim, forced her to drink alcohol, and continued moving between car parks throughout the night.

Police began a search after the girl was reported missing by her mother, with CCTV enquiries leading officers to identify Sharpe’s vehicle.

He was arrested in a hotel car park in Knutsford at around 3.40am the following morning.

During police interview, Sharpe said he had been feeling bad and so he kidnapped the girl thinking it would be easier than kidnapping an adult.

He claimed he planned to release her when it was light and then take his own life.

Sharpe, originally from Bury, now from Portwood, Stockport, denied that his actions were sexually motivated, though he admitted being aroused by smelling her feet.

Hannah Gee of the Crown Prosecution Service 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 pleaded guilty to 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 and administering a noxious thing with intent to injure, aggrieve or annoy.

He will be sentenced at Minshull Street Crown Court on September 4.

His offences come after Sharpe was convicted of murdering a Bolton woman in 2000.

Sharpe, then of Wellington Road, Bury, was jailed for killing 28-year-old Sarah Jane Widdup on October 14, 2000, after she had been found strangled in the bedroom of her semi-detached house in Deepdale Road, Breightmet.