A woman who falsely accused 10 men of rape has had her prison sentence increased by two-and-a-half years after the Court of Appeal deemed her original sentence "unduly lenient." Stacey Sharples, 31, had admitted to ten counts of perverting the course of justice in March, for which she was initially jailed for four-and-a-half years.
The Attorney General referred the sentence to the Court of Appeal, which on Wednesday increased her term to seven years. Sharples' false accusations led to men being held in custody, losing jobs and partners, and being separated from their children. The court heard that an estimated 264 hours of police time and approximately £50,000 were wasted on months-long investigations.
Sharples met the men, from Greater Manchester, on Facebook and dating apps between 2013 and 2019. Police found inconsistencies in her accounts, despite her repeating the allegations in lengthy, video-recorded interviews. One of Sharples's victims, Kaylum Davis, then 16, described the original sentence as a "joke," stating he was left on bail for 18 months while his case was pending.
Lord Justice Popplewell, sitting with Mr. Justice Linden and Mrs. Justice Hill, noted that the allegations involved extremely serious conduct, including rape and in some cases, multiple rapes with serious violence and threats. He emphasized that false rape allegations undermine real victims and can create doubt in the public's mind, particularly among potential jurors. The judge stated that Sharples "lured" one victim to a shop for his arrest and told another "watch what happens now" after he refused her advances.
During the original sentencing, the judge had described Sharples as a "sexual predator" who sought out sexual encounters and then reported men for rape if they did not reciprocate her expressions of affection. Sharples had consensual sexual relations with five of the men before accusing them of rape. Her first false accusation, made at age 18, involved a claim that a 16-year-old boy had forced her to perform oral sex.
Sharples's defense argued that her original sentence had been reduced due to her mental health and a diagnosed learning disability. She reportedly "accepts responsibility" but "still struggles to understand why she did what she did." She told a psychiatrist that she did not know why her offending stopped but that it coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and meeting her current partner in 2022.
Attorney General Ellie Reeves stated that Sharples "lied, repeatedly and deliberately, causing significant harm to 10 victims and wasting hundreds of hours of police time." She added that "rare cases like this must not discourage genuine victims from coming forward" and that "anyone who seeks to exploit or undermine genuine acts of violence against women and girls must be held to account."