Rapist who faked death and fled to Spain jailed for eight years

James Clacher raped two women he met on dating apps

A double rapist who faked his own death and fled to Spain has been jailed for eight years.

Former gym boss James Clacher, 57, used dating apps to prey on two women and attack them in their own homes in 2019 and 2020.

Clacher, from Airdrie in Lanarkshire, went missing and left a bogus suicide note. He was later caught by police on a beach on the Costa Del Sol.

Sentencing him at the High Court in Edinburgh, Lord Cubie said his attempt to escape justice in Spain was "cowardly".

Clacher's trial heard how he was last seen in Airdrie in May 2022, before his car was found abandoned at Loch Long in Argyll.

He had left a note claiming he planned to end his life.

After Police Scotland issued public appeals to track him down, officers received an anonymous tip off that he was living in Nerja.

The Spanish Civil Guard released a dramatic video of his arrest in May 2024.

He was pinned down by officers while using gym equipment on a beach and extradited to Scotland to stand trial.

Lord Cubie said Clacher's "self-imposed exile" in Spain made the ordeal even worse for his victims.

He said: "Your actions have caused long-term and wide-ranging consequences, in loss of self-esteem, in the destruction of family and other relationships.

"The effects were devastating, leaving the victims feeling broken.

"You continue to deny any wrongdoing. So there is limited insight, no remorse and a continuing risk of serious damage to others as a result of your attitude."

The court heard how Clacher's first victim met him on the Tinder dating app.

She told how she was attacked within "10 to 15 minutes max" of him turning up at her home in Ayrshire in August 2019.

The woman said she was grabbed, pushed against a wall and sexually assaulted. He then forced her upstairs and raped her again in her bedroom.

Clacher was captured on CCTV on the day he was last seen in Scotland

Clacher also raped a second woman, who he had met on the Bumble app, at her home in Glasgow in September 2020.

They had gone for food and a walk on a beach before returning to her flat.

The woman said she took off her dress and Clacher removed some of his clothes, but she said she did not want to have sex with him.

She told the court she was "scared" as he grabbed one of her arms and was pinned against a couch as he attacked her.

She reported Clacher to the police which then led officers to the first victim.

Clacher had denied rape and claimed any sexual contact was consensual.

Det Insp Bruce Fyfe of Police Scotland said it was "difficult to comprehend the distress and suffering Clacher caused the women in this case".

Lord Cubie sentenced him to eight years in prison, with a further extended part of the sentence including two years on licence.

The sentence was backdated to the time of his arrest in Spain in May 2024.