A CONVICTED rapist who staged his own death before fleeing to southern Spain has finally been jailed in Scotland.
James Clacher, 57, carried out two serious sexual assaults on women he met through dating apps in 2019 and 2020 – before disappearing in 2022.
He then resurfaced on the Costa del Sol under a false identity.
The former gym boss faked suicide in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, abandoning his car and leaving a note at Loch Long to convince police and his victims that he had killed himself. In reality, Clacher was plotting an escape to Spain.
For months, he managed to live undetected in the seaside town of Nerja, east of Malaga, where he reinvented himself as ‘Johnny Wilson’.
He was often spotted working out at local gyms, teaching yoga on the beach, and even working as a gardener at a residential complex.
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But his obsession with fitness ultimately exposed him. Acting on a tip-off, Guardia Civil officers swooped in and arrested him mid-workout on the sand.
Dramatic footage released by Spanish police shows plain-clothes officers tackling him to the ground.
He was later extradited to Scotland. On Tuesday, Clacher was sentenced at the Edinburgh High Court to a 10-year extended sentence – eight years behind bars and two under supervision.
Lord Cubie, sentencing, described ‘striking’ similarities between the attacks, noting that Clacher had lied about his age, lured victims into their homes, and then blamed them afterwards to avoid responsibility.
The court also heard that one victim was assaulted within 15 minutes of meeting him for the first time. Another was raped after a trip to Irvine Beach.
After smuggling himself into France in a lorry he cycled to Spain. Once on the Costa del Sol, he befriended a local man who helped him find work and a flat, while he worried constantly about being recognised.
Detective Constable Jamie Crossan, who escorted him back from Spain, said Clacher had even contemplated building a kayak to paddle to Morocco to continue his life on the run.
Clacher will now remain on the sex offenders register indefinitely and is banned from contacting his victims for at least a decade.
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