Convicted killer who murdered radio show caller jailed for life again after abducting schoolgirl in millionaire's row street Paul Sharpe, 56, who previously served a life sentence for strangling beautician Sarah Widdup in 2000, abducted a 15-year-old girl in Altrincham and subjected her to an eight-hour ordeal of sexual assault before armed police rescued her from a hotel car park in Knutsford, Cheshire. A 15-year-old schoolgirl was abducted by a convicted killer in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, after she called her boyfriend to say her mobile phone battery was running low while walking home from studying for her exams at a local library. Paul Sharpe, 56, a man who had previously served a life sentence for strangling a woman who called into his radio show, was pretending to try doorbells on the street in the affluent area known as millionaire's row. CCTV footage captured the chilling moment the overweight murderer, wearing a high-visibility jacket to avoid arousing suspicion, spotted the teenager and crossed the street towards her.Approaching the unsuspecting girl from behind, he placed her in a headlock and threatened to stab her if she did not get into his car, which was fitted with drapes to prevent anyone from seeing inside. Feeling a knife pressed against her and fearing for her life, the schoolgirl complied, beginning a terrifying eight-hour hostage ordeal during which he took her captive and sexually assaulted her at multiple locations.In what a judge 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.They used CCTV cameras to trace the car to a hotel car park in Knutsford, Cheshire at 3.45am the next day, where 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 that she had not been harmed as he was arrested and led away.A kitchen knife was later found in his trouser pocket, while neck ties, several pairs of tights, women's shoes and bottles containing alcohol were also recovered from his property. At Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester, a judge imposed another life sentence with a minimum term of eight years behind bars, branding Sharpe every parent's worst nightmare and someone with dark sexual desires.Prosecutors told the court how Sharpe had got his victim in a chokehold, told her he had a knife, and demanded she get into his car, inventing a story that she was being taken because her father owed someone money. During her ordeal Sharpe asked her to keep talking to him, and she did so in the hope that by giving herself a personality, the defendant would be less likely to harm her.He demanded that she drank a yellow-coloured liquid from a vodka bottle, ordered her to stretch out her legs so he could smell her feet, and warned 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.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. Detectives later uncovered evidence of his sexual interests, which included a foot fetish, and discovered he had 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 evidence of an interest in sexual kidnap. When interviewed by detectives, Sharpe said he had been feeling overwhelmed because he had no electricity at home, was on the verge of a driving ban and had quit his job.Sharpe had been jailed for life in 2001 after murdering 28-year-old beautician Sarah Widdup, whom he had seduced when she contacted his phone-in show, but he was released on parole in 2013. Her relatives told the Daily Mail earlier this year that Sharpe should never have been released. The attack took place in May 2026 as the teenager walked home through a street of one-million-pound houses at around 7.15pm in the evening