A man who raped two women, then faked his own death and fled the country to escape justice, has been sent to prison for eight years.
James Clacher, 57, was convicted in September on two charges relating to the rape of two women.
The incidents occurred in August 2019 and September 2020.
In May 2022, while facing trial for rape, Clacher was reported missing from Airdrie in North Lanarkshire.
He was later traced in Spain and extradited back to Scotland.
At the High Court in Edinburgh on Wednesday, judge Lord Cubie sentenced the 57-year-old 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.
Lord Cubie described Clacher’s attempt to escape justice by going abroad as “cowardly”.
The judge said the “similarities are striking” between the two cases of rape, which both took place in the victims’ homes after they met on dating apps.
He noted that in one case, Clacher told a “despicable lie” about his brother having a heart attack after carrying out one of the rapes, with the intent of pressuring the complainer into “backing down”.
The judge said Clacher had used both victims for his own “self-serving” needs.
Lord Cubie said Clacher, a former Army reservist, used his survival experience to try and escape the consequences of his actions.
The judge said: “This was a cowardly action.”
He described the two cases of rape as “devastating”, and said they had left the victims “broken”.
Lord Cubie told him: “You continue to deny any wrongdoing, so there is limited insight, no remorse and considerable risk to others.”
Clacher’s advocate Gail Gianni said her client was aware there was no alternative to a custodial sentence.
She said he had no previous convictions.
Clacher’s car, a Suzuki Swift, was found at the Loch Long car park in Arrochar, Argyll and Bute, in 2022.
Clacher, from North Lanarkshire, sought to convince the authorities that he had taken his own life.
However, police launched an appeal to locate him and he was later traced to Nerja in the Costa del Sol.
Sky News reported one of their viewers had seen him there and the tip-off was passed on to the police.
Spanish Civil Guard arrested him while he was working out on a beach in the town, almost exactly two years after he disappeared.
The broadcaster reported that Clacher was living under a new identity and had struck up friendships with other British expats in Nerja.
