A TWISTED mum who falsely accused ten men she met online of rape will now spend longer behind bars.
Stacey Sharples, from Bolton, made false allegations against the men between 2013 and 2019.
Some of her victims ended up in custody, lost their jobs and partners and were even separated from their children.
She appeared at the Court of Appeal on Wednesday by video link from HMP Styal in Cheshire, where judges increased her four-and-a-half year sentence to seven, after deeming it “‘unduly lenient”.
Using dating apps Plenty of Fish and Badoo, depraved Sharples, now 31, first started luring in men when she was 18 in 2013.
After meeting her victims, she would leave their homes then call the cops and report a rape, even if no sexual activity had taken place.
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When she was 18, she told her dad that a 16-year-old boy had threatened her with a knife and forced her to perform oral sex.
She later accused nine men of abusing her behind a library in Failsworth, Greater Manchester, on Boxing Day in 2013.
Sharples made three more false claims in 2017, four in 2018 and 11 in 2019.
She denied 19 charges of perverting the course of justice in April 2024, but admitted ten counts at Bolton Crown Court in March this year and was sentenced to four and a half years in jail.
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Around 264 hours of police time and £50,000 were blown on months-long investigations, the court heard.
Despite repeating her allegations in lengthy self-recorded videos, cops found multiple inconsistencies in Sharples’ claims.
Lord Justice Popplewell said on Wednesday: “The allegations were of extremely serious conduct all involving rape, and in some cases multiple rapes with serious violence and threats.
“Had the victims been convicted, their sentences would in total have been very lengthy indeed.”
He added that false rape allegations undermine real victims’ claims of rape and have a devastating impact on the public – who may well become jurors.
The judge described how Sharples “lured” one man to a shop so he could be arrested in public.
She ominously warned another, “watch what happens now”, after he refused her advances.
Sharples taunted another victim: “They’re not pressing charges, I’ve got away with it yet again.”
During the original sentencing, she was described by the judge as a “sexual predator” who sought empty connections with men.
She “bombarded” her victims with overblown expressions of love and affection, and if they did not accept, she accused them of rape.
Julia Faure Walker, representing the Attorney General, said the original sentence did not adequately reflect the number of victims.
“This case clearly falls into the category of causing not just some distress or impact, but serious distress or impact,” she said.
“The vast majority were arrested, spent time in custody and remained under investigation for months.”
Representing Sharples, Hunter Gray said the sentence had been shortened due to her mental health and lack of intellect, constituting a earning disability.
He said Sharples “accepts responsibility” but “still struggles to understand why she did what she did”.
She previously told a psychiatrist she did not know why she stopped offending, but reasoned it coincided with Covid and her meeting her current partner in 2022.
Attorney General Ellie Reeves said: “Stacey Sharples lied, repeatedly and deliberately, causing significant harm to 10 victims and wasting hundreds of hours of police time that should have gone towards supporting genuine victims.
“Rare cases like this must not discourage genuine victims from coming forward.
“Every report of rape is rightly taken seriously and treated with the care it deserves.
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“Anyone who seeks to exploit or undermine genuine acts of violence against women and girls must be held to account. I thank the police for their diligence in uncovering the truth, and my thoughts remain with the victims who were falsely accused.”