Scottish man who faked his own death and started a new life on the Costa del Sol using a fake identity is convicted of rape
James Clacher, 57, apparently worked on the coast as a gardener and yoga instructor but was arrested in May 2024 on Burriana beach
A Scottish man who raped and attempted to murder two women, faked his suicide and fled to Nerja on the eastern Costa del Sol, where he started a new life under a false identity, has been convicted.
James Clacher, 57, left Scotland after raping the women and leaving the suicide note in 2022 and was arrested in May 2024 in Nerja by the Guardia Civil in a joint operation with the UK's National Crime Agency. Just over a year later, having been extradited to Scotland, his country of origin, the High Court of Glasgow has found James Clacher guilty of the violent rape of two women he met through dating apps.
The rapist had faked his own death in Scotland and started a new life in Spain under a false identity. He lived in Nerja and according to the Guardia Civil, "had a way of life closely linked to sport and was very integrated in the sporting community" of the town.
"He had a way of life that was very much linked to sport and he was a very integrated person in the sporting community".
In fact, at the time of his arrest he was working out in a sports area of the town's famous Burriana beach. The man, described as "dangerous" by Police Scotland, was accused of raping two women he had met on a dating app. In 2022, pending trial, he attempted to fake his own death when Scottish police found his car on the shore of a lake in his home country.
Subsequently, the Scottish police determined that this was not an involuntary disappearance, but that the subject had fled his country to avoid arrest and the trial was adjourned pending a search for his whereabouts.
Fitness fanatic and very sociable
Clacher fled to Nerja where he settled under the identity of Johnny Wilson, a British fitness fanatic who was very sociable, according to the British newspaper The Guardian. The newspaper, as well as the television channel Sky News, has interviewed workers at a gym in the Axarquía town who knew him under his false identity. They described him as a "pleasant man, who made people feel comfortable and integrated perfectly into the local community".
The British media interviewed a fellow British resident in Nerja, who had befriended 'Johnny Wilson': "He was giving me nutritional help and told me that he had been in the parachute regiment for ten years and had come to Spain to make a fresh start," Matt explained in the interview.
"He didn't give any clues but in retrospect, you could never see his face in any photos," Matt explained in the interview, adding that he had been hiking with him and even gone to his house for lunch. According to The Guardian and Sky News, Clacher had worked as a gardener in Nerja and also earned money organising yoga classes on the beach.
