A woman who repeatedly made false rape allegations against 10 innocent men has had her prison sentence increased after senior judges ruled her original term was unduly lenient.
Stacey Sharples, 31, from Farnworth in Bolton, was originally jailed for four-and-a-half years in March after admitting 10 counts of perverting the course of justice.
The Court of Appeal in London has now increased her sentence to seven years, after hearing about the scale of her offending and the impact on the men she falsely accused.
Men arrested and held in custody
Sharples made the allegations against men she met through Facebook and dating apps, including Plenty of Fish and Badoo, between 2013 and 2019.
Her false reports resulted in men being arrested and detained, while some lost jobs and relationships and were separated from their children during police investigations.
The court heard approximately 264 hours of police time were spent investigating the allegations, at an estimated cost of around £50,000.
Despite Sharples providing detailed accounts during video-recorded police interviews, investigators eventually uncovered significant inconsistencies.
Appearing by video link from HMP Styal, Sharples heard Lord Justice Popplewell describe her offending as “extremely serious conduct”.
Sitting alongside Mr Justice Linden and Mrs Justice Hill, he said the allegations included claims of rape, multiple rapes, violence and threats.
The court was also warned that deliberately false allegations can cause wider damage by undermining genuine victims and potentially creating doubt among members of the public who may later serve as jurors.
‘I’ve got away with it yet again’
Judges heard that Sharples deliberately arranged for one man to attend a shop where he could be arrested publicly.
After another man rejected her advances, she allegedly told him: “Watch what happens now.”
In another message disclosed to the court, she wrote: “They’re not pressing charges, I’ve got away with it yet again.”
Julia Faure Walker, representing the Attorney General, argued that the original four-and-a-half-year sentence failed to reflect the number of victims and the seriousness of the harm caused.
Most of the men had been arrested, spent time in police custody and remained under investigation for months.
Original sentence ruled too lenient
Sharples’ barrister, Hunter Gray, told the court her original sentence had been reduced to take account of mental health issues and a learning disability.
He said she accepted responsibility for her offending but still struggled to understand why she had behaved as she did.
During her original sentencing, the judge described Sharples as a “sexual predator”, saying she pursued men for casual sex before bombarding them with declarations of love and making false rape allegations when her feelings were not reciprocated.
The court heard she had consensual sex with five of the men before subsequently accusing them of rape.
Her offending began when she was 18 and continued over several years.
Following the Court of Appeal ruling, Attorney General Ellie Reeves KC MP said Sharples had “lied, repeatedly and deliberately”, causing significant harm to her victims while consuming hundreds of hours of police resources that could have been used to support genuine victims.
Sharples will now serve the increased seven-year prison sentence.
