Stacey Sharples, 31, from Farnworth, Bolton, had her prison sentence increased to seven years at the Court of Appeal on 9 September 2026, the Attorney General's Office said. Attorney General Ellie Reeves KC MP had referred the case under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme. Sharples was originally sentenced at Bolton Crown Court on 11 March 2026 to four years and six months for 10 counts of perverting the course of justice.

The court heard that between 2013 and 2020 Sharples contacted men online, arranged to meet them, then falsely accused them of rape, leading to eight separate police investigations involving ten victims. Most were arrested and held in custody, and the investigations took months at an estimated cost of over 550 hours of police time. Some victims described losing relationships and employment, and several reported lasting damage to their mental health.

Reeves said the false allegations caused significant harm and wasted police time, and that rare cases like this must not discourage genuine victims from coming forward.