A schoolgirl’s walk home from a library study session turned into a nightmare when she was abducted by a convicted killer while preparing for her exams.

The 15-year-old had been making her way along an affluent street known locally as a “millionaires’ row” after phoning her boyfriend to tell him her mobile was about to run out of battery.

At the same time, Paul Sharpe, 56, who had previously served a life sentence for strangling a woman who rang in to his radio show, was on the street in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, pretending to test doorbells.

CCTV footage shows the disturbing moment Sharpe, dressed in a high-vis jacket apparently to blend in and avoid suspicion, noticed the teenager before crossing the road towards her.

He came up behind the unsuspecting girl, put her in a headlock and threatened to stab her unless she got 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.

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 after 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.

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 to ‘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.

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 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 was 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.’

Sharpe murdered 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 per cent 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.’

Hundreds of mourners have turned out for the funeral of one of the five young men killed in the A66 crash, as a row grew over claims schools had “given in to thugs” by closing early amid fears of disorder.

Six schools in Middlesbrough closed at midday today in an effort to avoid disruption linked to the funeral of 23-year-old Jakub Matusiak in South Bank.

The move, criticised by the Conservatives, came after head teachers held talks with the local authority about concerns that large crowds, motorbikes and quad bikes could gather in the area.

Matusiak, Michael Cahill, 23, Makai Saddington, 18, Theo Rae, 17, and Cole Worthy, 17, died on August 22 when the Volkswagen Passat they were in, travelling the wrong way along the A66, crashed into a marked police car.

Two Cleveland Police officers, PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, were also killed in the collision, which has since been followed by outbreaks of violence and unrest across Middlesbrough and County Durham.

Police are investigating whether the five men – four of whom had at least 37 previous convictions between them – had links to ‘serious and organised criminal activity’.

A white carriage drawn by two grey horses carrying Matusiak’s coffin arrived at St John The Evangelist Church, just before 3pm this afternoon. Family members and close friends arrived in a Rolls Royce, two Lamborghinis, a Porsche and two limousines.

Floral tributes spelling the words ‘Dad’ and ‘Friend’ had been placed on top of the carriage while two black hearses followed behind carrying photographs of Matusiak framed with cream and orange flowers.

The family had requested mourners wear orange, his favourite colour. Traffic was held up as the coffin, engraved with the words ‘son’, was carried into the church by six pallbearers, the solemn silence interrupted briefly by applause and whistles.

Yet officers stayed away from the service when it began at 3pm even as crowds continued to gather outside, some seen wearing balaclavas and hoodies.

Members of the press who were reporting on the funeral were advised to leave the area half way through with one man exclaiming ‘It would be a good idea to leave…now.’

Family and friends were told to meet at Matusiak’s house from 2.30pm and walk to the church altogether, with organisers saying: ‘Bring as many bikes, quads, jeeps… anything let’s send him of how he would love.’ 

Cleveland Police said closing schools early was ‘not a police recommendation’, adding that there will be a ‘proportionate visible police presence in the affected areas to ensure public safety’. 

The move to shut schools at lunchtime has been criticised by Tory education spokesman Laura Trott, who said it was ‘unacceptable’ for Education Secretary Lucy Powell not to intervene.

Ms Trott, who retained her brief in Kemi Badenoch’s Conservative frontbench reshuffle, said: ‘This is wrong. Children shouldn’t lose their education because of organised crime… we cannot give into thugs.’

In a flurry of social media posts, she said ‘thugs on quad bikes shouldn’t get to dictate who goes to school’, adding: ‘Children should not lose out on education because criminal gangs have brought fear and lawlessness to the community.’

Cleveland Police said there will be potential traffic disruption and delays between 3pm and 5pm.

A spokesman for the force added: ‘Any decisions made by schools or other services to close has been a decision made by those organisations in isolation, and has not been a police recommendation.

‘There will be a proportionate visible police presence in the affected areas to ensure public safety, in line with our plans for any significant gathering.’ 

At a ‘memorial’ for Matusiak last month, close to the crash site in South Bank, orange balloons were released, fireworks set off and balaclava-clad bikers intimidated residents.

Matusiak had previously shared footage on social media of him driving a Volvo recklessly, veering off the road and speeding across a grass park in May. He had two previous convictions for driving without a licence and using a vehicle without insurance.  

South Bank primary school will close at 12pm ‘to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our pupils,’ it said.

Headteacher Tammy Cooper said in a Facebook statement that the school expected ‘large numbers of people in the area which will inevitably cause congestion and transport disruption’.

She added: ‘This decision has been reached after careful consideration of the potential impact on the departure of pupils, staff and families.

‘We recognise the inconvenience this may cause and thank our families for their understanding and co-operation.’

Ms Cooper said the school also recognises ‘some pupils may feel upset or anxious about the funeral taking place locally’ and the pastoral team would be available for support.

Mark Robinson, head of Outwood academy in Normanby, said in a letter to parents that his school would also close at midday after discussions with the council.

Archway Academy Teesville and St Margaret Clitherow’s Catholic Primary School will also close early. Mackenzie Thorpe Centre will be closed all day.

Last week a vigil for Cahill was criticised by MPs and police after a crowd set fire to cars in Haswell, County Durham.

A spokesman for Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council said: ‘Following discussions between local headteachers and the local authority, a number of schools in the South Bank area will close earlier than usual on Friday afternoon due to anticipated traffic congestion and transport disruption associated with a local funeral taking place in the area.

‘The decision was made after careful consideration of the potential impact on home-to-school transport and the departure of pupils, staff and families at the end of the school day.

‘Schools have worked with the local authority and transport providers to consider arrangements for pupils, including those who travel to and from specialist educational settings.

‘We recognise that early closure may cause inconvenience for some parents and carers, and we thank them for their understanding and co-operation.’

But Ms Trott urged the Education Secretary to intervene, telling the Labour minister she had a ‘duty to ensure that this does not impact on the honest and decent pupils, parents and teachers in the area’.

She added: ‘Children should not be kept out of school because of the behaviour of thugs on the streets.

‘If schools are closing because of concerns about disorder, intimidation or criminality in the surrounding area, then those responsible should be held to account by law.’

‘Intimidation must never be tolerated. No child should lose out on their education because criminal gangs have brought fear and lawlessness to their community.’

The Education Secretary responded saying she trusted headteachers to ‘make judgments that they need to make to keep their school community safe’.

Lucy Powell told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘As Education Secretary, I want schools to be open. I want pupils attending schools all the time.

‘And these headteachers of these small number of schools have taken a very difficult decision with the local authority and the police for the safety of their school community to close early.

‘What I would say is that there are huge anxieties and worries in the communities.’

She added: ‘I trust headteachers to make the judgments that they need to make to keep their school community safe. I hope this doesn’t have to happen again.’

And Ms Powell said it was not a time for ‘party political point scoring’.

‘This is a very, very difficult and delicate situation, as you say, and I will always put the safety and wellbeing of children at the forefront of anything I do,’ she said.

Ms Powell said ‘tensions are high’ in the area. 

Nigel Farage is battling to steady Reform after two senior aides stepped back amid a growing row over an alleged “illegal” donations sting.

The Reform leader denied that any law had been broken following the release of undercover footage in which he and members of his team were shown discussing donations with a man posing as a US businessman.

Mr Farage dismissed the episode as a “clear case of entrapment”, while conceding that the footage captured aides “boasting” and making remarks that “perhaps should not have been said”.

James Orr, Reform’s head of policy, and Dan Jukes, an assistant to Mr Farage, are both standing aside from their roles while the claims are examined.

In a striking defence, Mr Farage referred to the pair as “contractors”, despite their status as key figures around him, with Mr Jukes having been a constant presence at his side for years.

The furore is threatening to overshadow Reform’s conference in Birmingham, where Mr Farage is hoping to revive the party’s fortunes after a torrid spell. 

A report broadcast by Channel 4 News claimed Reform took funding from a US firm for three polls it commissioned earlier this year, costing £32,500. 

The purported donors were in fact undercover reporters from investigative group Verbatim posing as an American financier and his UK-based son.

The provenance of the polls was not revealed when they were published in national newspapers, and the costs were not declared by Reform as donations in kind. 

Senior officials including Mr Farage are also said to have discussed a £500,000 donation from the fake businessman through his son.

Speaking to LBC, Mr Farage said: ‘The party has broken no laws. The party has not taken any dodgy money or anything like that whatsoever.

‘However, it is a clear case of entrapment, and they worked at it for a very, very long time, and they got a couple of our contractors to say things that perhaps should not have been said.

‘And as a result of that, you know, they have been removed this morning. And yeah, you know, I’m not happy about it.’

On the polls, which were published in the run-up to local elections, he said: ‘Whilst the poll benefited Reform, it wasn’t commissioned by Reform.

‘It had nothing to do with Reform. It was an independent third party that did it. So that’s nothing. That’s nothing. Polls are funded by overseas people every single week. Every single week.’

At a press conference alongside French PM hopeful Jordan Bardella later, Mr Farage said he was ‘annoyed’ the undercover reporters were able to meet him.

‘We have not taken an illegal penny in funding, that is important. The loose pub talk, frankly, there was a bit of boasting, a bit of jack-the-lad-dery going on there,’ he said.

‘If it was more serious than that, then I refer you back to the BBC’s question earlier, the names would have been put onto the programme and there would be a hell of a row. They don’t exist. Those donations don’t exist.

‘Am I annoyed? Am I annoyed that these people even got to meet me? Yes, I am. It should not have happened. It should not have happened.

‘The two individuals involved are not even part of our fundraising team, so they should have gone through the appropriate channels. Checks would have been made, and they would never, ever have got to sit down at a table with with me.

‘So do we need to do better as we professionalise? Yes, absolutely we do. So yeah, there was certainly human error here and of that there’s no question.’

Mr Farage said he ‘didn’t like’ losing Mr Jukes from his team, but suggested an investigation was likely to find he ‘should never had said one or two of the things that he said’. 

‘I’ve worked with Dan very closely for many years, many, many years, and I described it as loose pub talk, and that’s what it was, because what he said simply wasn’t true,’ he insisted.

‘He got put into a position and he should never have said what he did.

‘I believe the investigation will find he should never have said one or two of the things that he said.’

A Reform spokesman said: ‘Reform UK has launched an investigation following the broadcast of a Channel 4 News programme.

‘Both individuals involved have stepped down from their respective positions pending the outcome of the investigation.

‘The party believes it is important that the investigation is allowed to proceed independently and without prejudice. No further comment will be made while the investigation is ongoing.’

Reform UK chairman Lee Anderson told Sky News there was ‘no chance’ of them returning to the party. 

However, deputy leader Richard Tice refused to rule out a comeback, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘Let’s wait and see what the investigation says.’

Mr Jukes said in a statement this morning: ‘This was entrapment over a prolonged period of nearly a year by foreign-funded climate change activists.

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‘I totally deny any wrongdoing but have stepped back from politics in order to clear my name.’

Foreign political donations are banned in the UK and no donation of that size was ever made.

The Lib Dems have written to the Metropolitan Police and Electoral Commission about the issue. 

Labour has also reported the allegations to the police, and the Greens have called for a probe.

Labour Party chair Bridget Phillipson said the ‘scandal goes right to the top of Reform’.

‘Farage must co-operate with the authorities and urgently prove that his top team haven’t broken the law and secretly plotted to undermine our democracy,’ she posted on X. 

In a letter to the Met Police, Lib Dem frontbencher Lisa Smart wrote: ‘The breach raises alarming questions about whether there has been a wider complacency toward foreign interference by the individuals involved.’

Channel 4 News said it had ‘thoroughly checked and verified’ the work by Verbatim and ‘did not pay for the polling and paid no money to Verbatim or any associated company’.

Mr Anderson told Sky News of Mr Jukes and Mr Orr: ‘They’ve stepped down. They was told, you know, they had to step down, they have stepped down, and that’s got to be the right thing to do on the day, the first day of our conference.

‘Let’s remember, we’ve got 5,000 members coming through the door today to listen to what we’ve got to say about our first 100 days in government and how we’re going to change the course of this country.

‘So it’s right to get rid of this distraction straight away. The pair concerned have gone, and the investigation starts today. It’s as simple as that.’

He added: ‘There’s no chance of them coming back. They’ve stepped aside.

‘You know, we’re a serious party, you know, and sometimes in politics, you have to make tough decisions, harsh decisions.’

Mr Tice denied that the party broke any laws regarding allegations about impermissible donations.

He told Today: ‘The reality is that no money has been received whatsoever. We’ve got a KC’s opinion that makes clear no rules have been broken.’ He added that ‘no benefit in kind was received’.

An Electoral Commission spokesman said: ‘We are considering all relevant information, in line with our regulatory remit, and we are in touch with the Met Police.

‘The Electoral Commission has not approved the donor vetting process for Reform, or any other party. Parties are responsible for ensuring their internal processes and controls are fit for purpose.

‘We provide advice and guidance to political parties on how to comply with electoral law.

‘The law requires political parties to report all permissible donations they accept with a value over £11,180 and all impermissible donations over £500.

‘Information about any potential attempt to evade the controls on donations is for the police to consider.’

Mr Farage is expected to give the first of his two conference speeches this afternoon, promising to declare a ‘national emergency’ on his first day in government, introducing a flood of legislation and doing ‘anything and everything’ to deliver his party’s policies.

He will say: ‘Within days of winning the general election, we will introduce dozens of Bills and force Parliament to sit all through summer for seven days a week to pass them.

‘Britain is in serious trouble. We don’t have time to wait around to fix it.’

The two-day conference in Birmingham is expected to hear from other senior Reform figures setting out their own pledges for their first 100 days in office, as well as an address from Jordan Bardella, leader of the French National Rally.

Mr Farage is expected to announce that any frontbenchers who fail to deliver on their pledges ‘will be sacked’.

He is also due to make his own promise to focus on reducing the cost of living and lead on efforts to end small boat crossings in the Channel.

An Electoral Commission spokesman said: ‘We are considering all relevant information, in line with our regulatory remit, and we are in touch with the Met Police.

‘The Electoral Commission has not approved the donor vetting process for Reform, or any other party. Parties are responsible for ensuring their internal processes and controls are fit for purpose.

‘We provide advice and guidance to political parties on how to comply with electoral law.

‘The law requires political parties to report all permissible donations they accept with a value over £11,180 and all impermissible donations over £500. ‘Information about any potential attempt to evade the controls on donations is for the police to consider.’