The dating app rapist who faked his death and forged a new identity in Spain

Published

2 days ago

September 4, 2025

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“Do you recognise this guy?” I ask a Costa del Sol cafe owner as I show him an image of a bald, bearded bodybuilder from Scotland.

He raises his eyebrows and looks back with suspicion.

“I think he sometimes came for coffee,” he replies in broken English before the conversation is quickly shut down.

The bodybuilder is a familiar face in this part of the world – he lived here in the Spanish seaside town of Nerja for almost two years.

He is the fitness-fanatic, social butterfly expat Johnny Wilson. But the truth is, Johnny doesn’t exist.

The man behind the made-up name is the violent rapist James Clacher, who faked his own death in Scotland and set up a new life in Spain.

Nerja’s community feels bruised and conned by a serial sex offender who lived under their noses, undetected for so long.

The fake death

At the time of his disappearance in May 2022, Clacher was under investigation for two separate rapes of women he had met on dating app Tinder in 2019 and Bumble in 2020.

As police worked to put all the pieces of the puzzle together, a missing person poster was issued, describing Clacher as an athletic man who drives a Suzuki Swift.

It warned members of the public not to approach him.

Detectives had earlier discovered his car dumped next to Loch Long in Argyll and Bute. A suicide note was left in the vehicle, and messages had been sent suggesting he was no longer alive.

It had the look and feel of a suicide.

It was the perfect rural setting, with the rolling hills and very few people around, where a conman could slip away and hope to never be seen again.

The double life

Nerja is a small town with a population of around 22,000. It sits an hour’s drive from Malaga.

Off the beaten track, it’s tucked away at the foot of stunning mountain ranges and has the feel of a more authentic Spanish experience compared to its rivals like Marbella along the coast.

Accents on its beaches are from elsewhere in Spain and continental Europe, rather than a ‘Brits abroad’ vibe.

To learn how Clacher could slip into this community and create a bogus new identity while being a wanted man, I visit Nerja’s gym.

Workers tell me he trained there every day and describe a “nice man” who was perfectly pleasant, put people at ease and fitted right in.

I am pointed in the direction of a man called Matt, a British expat.

The pair became friends not long after “Johnny” arrived in Nerja. The relationship began with Johnny touting himself as a so-called nutritionist.

“He came highly recommended,” Matt says. “He was giving me nutritional help, and he said he was in the parachute regiment for ten years and came to Spain for a new start.

“He was a very, very nice guy, very charming, I became quite good friends with him. He invited me hiking with him, he invited me round to his house to eat.”

Asked if any of his new friend’s behaviour was suspicious, Matt says: “He gave no hint whatsoever. But looking back, whenever he sent a picture, he would never have his face visible.

“He was very careful about pictures. Whenever he took a picture, he obviously knew that he was being hunted, and he had to lay low, so he never showed his face.

“I only have one picture of him facing away from me looking up a mountain.”

Several people say Johnny had entered an 18-month relationship with a local woman who had no idea about his real identity or the sexual crimes he had committed on vulnerable women.

She is said to be traumatised by how events unfolded.

‘Johnny the gardener’

I get a tip off that Johnny was employed as a gardener at a local residential complex, and we’re told to speak to a man called Megel.

As he emerges from behind the shutters of a pool bar, Megel shakes his head and speaks to other guests in Spanish when I mention ‘Johnny the gardener’.

The atmosphere changes, and those present close ranks.

A member of staff confirms Johnny’s role on site before we are ushered off the premises.

Elsewhere, we discover he earned cash in hand running yoga classes on the beach in an attempt to stay off the books.

“This is the best place to be no one,” says local newspaper journalist Eugenio Cabezas, who has worked here for 20 years.

“If you have committed a crime, you can live here and nobody knows you. It is a good place to disappear.”

The tip-off

The Costa Del Sol has had a reputation over the years as somewhere big British crime bosses would come to hide.

James Clacher was no mafia gangster, but he played the system in Scotland and Spain.

That was until an anonymous person sent an email to Sky News with the title “James Clacher”.

The message, sent on 27 November 2023 at 11.16am, talked about reading news articles on the case.

It stated: “We believe we have seen this man in Nerja… he introduced himself as Jimmy, was Scottish and fit the description.”

The tip-off revealed conversations they had in the local gym and a timeline of three separate encounters or interactions over the space of almost a year.

The police investigation, which had come to a dead end, suddenly had its biggest lead yet.

The UK’s National Crime Agency, along with Spain’s Guardia Civil, went undercover and found their man.

They swooped while Clacher was hanging upside down on gym equipment on the very beach he had created a ‘safe space’ as a yoga instructor.

The moment was captured in dramatic body-cam footage by the Spanish police as the fugitive was tackled to the ground and led off in handcuffs.

Clacher was detained and eventually extradited back to Scotland.

‘He was a complete fantasist’

Matt, the man who thought he was friends with Johnny, speaks of his horror at learning his friendship was a lie.

“I was completely shocked. Completely stunned. I just couldn’t believe it”, he says.

“Being fooled like that by someone, it wasn’t just me. He fooled a lot of people here in Spain as well.

“I had a narrow escape. I am relieved I am away from that situation. He was a complete fantasist.”

The wider expat community in Nerja is shaken.

Pub landlady Cathy, who has lived here for 40 years, says the story was the talk of the town.

“People were stunned and surprised that this happened in our local community,” she says.

“Somebody who had obviously been living here with us which we had no idea about.

“We don’t have that very much here at all. It’s a very nice, safe, good area of Spain to be in.”

Clacher was detained in May 2024. He denied any wrongdoing when his trial began this August, but was found guilty by a jury.

During his trial, jurors heard how he was “very friendly and chatty” on his extradition flight back to Scotland.

He was said to have discussed how he staged his own death and told of how he “survived on berries and puddle water” while initially on the run.

Clacher claimed to have travelled from Loch Long to Inverness, then down the east coast of Scotland.

He was then said to have made his way to England before hiding in a truck to get into France.

Once in France, he then said he got his hands on a bike and cycled to Spain.

The Police Scotland officer Clacher spoke to on the flight home told the jury that Clacher revealed he had been fearful his face was becoming known locally in Nerja, so he considered building a kayak that he would paddle to Morocco.

UK

Cabinet reshuffle: Who’s on Keir Starmer’s new team and who’s out?

Published

2 hours ago

September 5, 2025

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Cabinet reshuffle: Who's on Keir Starmer's new team and who's out?

Sir Keir Starmer has reshuffled his cabinet following Angela Rayner’s resignation after admitting she had not paid enough stamp duty on the purchase of a new home.

The prime minister’s former right-hand woman stepped down as deputy prime minister, housing secretary and deputy leader of the Labour Party after standards adviser Sir Laurie Magnus found she had breached the ministerial code.

Politics latest: Reshuffle after Rayner quits

She paid standard stamp duty on a flat she bought in Hove, East Sussex, in May after taking advice that it counted as her only home due to her disabled son’s trust owning the family home in Ashton-under-Lyne – but it was established she should have paid more.

Her resignation has left a hole around the cabinet table, which Sir Keir is now filling.

It was stressed early on Chancellor Rachel Reeves would remain as chancellor, in an attempt to stop the markets moving.

This is who is moving and where to:

David Lammy – foreign secretary to justice secretary and deputy PM

After flexing his diplomatic muscles with Donald Trump and his deputy JD Vance over the past year, Mr Lammy will now move to the justice brief.

The move is likely to be a blow as the PM had promised, most recently in November, he would be foreign secretary for the whole parliament until 2029.

Although he is no longer holding one of the four great offices of state, he has also been made deputy prime minister, presumably to soften the blow.

Mr Lammy is close to Sir Keir, both as a friend and in his next door constituency, and was seen grinning as he went into Number 10 after being appointed.

Yvette Cooper – home secretary to foreign secretary

The Labour stalwart had made tackling illegal migration a priority, so the move could be seen as a disappointment for her.

However, she remains in one of the four great offices of state – PM, chancellor, foreign and home.

Shabana Mahmood – justice secretary to home secretary

A big promotion, the straight-talking Labour MP will be tasked with tackling the small boats crisis and asylum seeker hotel protests.

She is no stranger to making difficult decisions, deciding to free criminals early to reduce prison overcrowding as justice secretary.

Her move makes it the first time all three great offices of state, after the prime minister, are held by women.

Pat McFadden – chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and intergovernmental minister to work and pensions secretary and head of “super ministry”

Often seen as Sir Keir’s “number two”, Mr McFadden will take over a newly formed “super ministry”.

It will include the department for work and pensions and the skills remit of the department for education – taking a large part of Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson’s brief and taking over from Liz Kendall as work and pensions secretary.

While it is not a promotion at first glance, it is a much wider role than he has had as chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster – the highest-ranking Cabinet Office minister after the PM.

Darren Jones – chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

It is the second new job in the space of one week for the new chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. The close ally of the prime minister was promoted from chief secretary to the Treasury on Monday to chief secretary to the prime minister. And now he gets another new job.

Steve Reed – environment secretary to housing secretary

A promotion for the man who has consistently defended the government lifting inheritance tax relief on farmers.

He takes over one of the two major vacancies left by Ms Rayner and will have the massive task of building 1.5 million new homes during this parliament, as promised by the government.

Jonathan Reynolds – business and trade secretary to chief whip

A slightly odd move for the MP seen as a steady pair of hands in his business secretary role.

He takes over from Sir Alan Campbell and will now have to hustle Labour MPs to vote with the government – something that has sometimes proved difficult with the current cohort.

Mr Reynolds will also attend cabinet, as is necessary so he can liaise between the party and No 10.

Peter Kyle – science secretary to business and trade secretary

A promotion for Mr Kyle, who is taking over from Jonathan Reynolds.

He is seen as a rising star and impressed Labour MPs when he refused to stand down after suggesting Nigel Farage was on the side of people like Jimmy Savile by opposing the government’s online safety law.

Mr Kyle will be in charge of getting trade deals with other countries over the line.

Emma Reynolds – economic secretary to the Treasury to environment secretary

Probably the biggest promotion of the reshuffle, Ms Reynolds is taking on Mr Reed’s role after serving as a junior minister in the Treasury.

She will have to take on farmers and deal with the water companies – a big undertaking.

Liz Kendall – work and pensions secretary to science, innovation and technology secretary

Pat McFadden has taken her role as work and pensions secretary, while Ms Kendall takes over Peter Kyle’s brief.

He has made AI a major facet of his role so we will wait to see which direction Ms Kendall takes the job in.

Douglas Alexander – trade policy minister to Scotland secretary

A promotion for the Blair/Brown minister who returned to politics last year after being ousted in 2015 by then 20-year-old SNP MP Mhairi Black.

He takes over from Ian Murray, who has been removed from the cabinet.

Sir Alan Campbell – Chief whip to Lord President of the Council and leader of the House of Commons

An MP since 1997 and part of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s frontbench, Sir Alan is taking over Lucy Powell’s role.

He will be in charge of organising government business in the Commons – a sizeable job.

Who is out?

Lucy Powell has been sacked as leader of the House of Commons.

Ian Murray has been sacked as Scotland secretary.

Not out – but

Bridget Phillipson remains as education secretary but her brief has narrowed as Mr McFadden has taken over the skills part of her job.

UK

From denial to resignation: How Rayner’s position fell apart – and why tax row risks damaging public trust

Published

2 hours ago

September 5, 2025

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From denial to resignation: How Rayner's position fell apart - and why tax row risks damaging public trust

The damage is immense. In retrospect, it seems incredible that Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner thought they could tough it out before establishing the facts.

But they did, and not for the first time.

Politics latest: Starmer starts cabinet reshuffle

So, before we assess this particular case, it highlights a pre-existing nagging doubt. Is speaking without checking a defining pattern of this government?

Tax promises. Welfare cuts. Tulip Siddiq. Waspi Women. The initial winter fuel plan. The vow there would be no winter fuel U-turn. A pledge that David Lammy would be foreign secretary for five years.

Even a cast-iron guarantee in July that there would be no reshuffle this month – now there might be three, if you include junior ministers next week.

Each one: an action taken or promise made, combined with fighting talk – before reality dawns and the government retreats into reverse.

Is the word of ministers and their advisers in this government worth less than it should be?

Starmer and Rayner casually tossed untruths

So now this.

For days, two of the most senior politicians in the UK have clutched at factually inaccurate (Rayner) and emotionally charged (Starmer) smears against media reports that are today vindicated, and in doing so, casually tossed untruths into the public domain – even though behind the scenes they were still checking the facts.

The issue hinged on whether Ms Rayner should have paid a lower level of stamp duty on her new Hove flat, because it was her main home, or whether the rate £40,000 higher was due because of her interests in property elsewhere.

After the Telegraph asked whether she had got it wrong last Friday, her spokesman said on the record she “paid the correct duty” and “any suggestion otherwise is entirely without basis”. Yet later the same day, on Friday night, they decided to check and get a second opinion from a tax barrister.

This led to a change of position from Ms Rayner on Wednesday, and the self-referral to the ministerial standards adviser.

Starmer’s defence

But in the interim, on Monday, while the tax barrister was re-checking the facts, Sir Keir was picking a side.

He attacked critics – who were asking if the housing minister had paid the main housing tax at the right rate – for pursuing a class war.

“Angela has had people briefing against her and talking her down over and over again. It’s a mistake, by the way,” he said.

By this point, No 10 also knew that Ms Rayner was trying to lift a court order which she claims prevented her from going public with the truth. There was no attempt to nuance from the top, however.

Only finally, on Wednesday, on Sky News, did Ms Rayner concede a mistake. The deputy prime minister’s defence was that lawyers had wrongly advised her to pay the lower stamp duty – it was all their fault and she should not be found culpable.

Even this has turned out to be a partial explanation, and that is why she’s gone.

Rayner took a chance

The conclusion by the Downing Street investigator was that she’d ignored clear warnings about her tax bill that she should have followed.

In his adjudication to the PM, Sir Laurie Magnus wrote: “In two instances, [the legal advice] was qualified that it did not constitute expert tax advice and was accompanied by a suggestion, and in one case a recommendation, that specific tax advice be found.”

So she took a chance on not following advice to get a proper tax lawyer, and took a chance a second time by claiming on telly that the advice to her was wrong – and has been caught out only because of media scrutiny.

Ministers take nuanced advice from professionals on a daily basis and have to use their political determination on whether they agree. Something very similar happened here in Ms Rayner’s private life, and she got it wrong.

And at no point did someone in No 10 or her team seek to challenge her explanations before multiple figures mounted a case for her defence in public, of things that proved later to be partial or untrue.

This is the sort of thing that damages public trust: making categorical statements that are untrue because the facts weren’t properly established in advance.

Will lessons be learned across the top of government?

UK

Farage says Reform is on course to win next election and he expects ‘big rift’ in Labour Party

Published

2 hours ago

September 5, 2025

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Farage says Reform is on course to win next election and he expects 'big rift' in Labour Party

Reform leader Nigel Farage has said his party is on track to become the next government – adding that there will be a “big rift” in the Labour Party following Angela Rayner’s resignation.

Mr Farage struck a triumphant tone at the Reform UK conference in Birmingham this afternoon, where he said there is “every chance” the next general election will take place in 2027.

Politics latest: Major cabinet reshuffle

The Reform leader was due to speak at 4pm today but brought the meeting forward by three hours after Ms Rayner stepped down as deputy prime minister and housing minister.

Ms Rayner had been under pressure after admitting to Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast this week that she didn’t pay enough tax on her second home.

Mr Farage told activists he was making his speech earlier than planned because the government is “deep in crisis” following her resignation.

He continued: “You simply can’t get away, can you, from being the housing secretary and avoiding £40,000 of council tax.”

Ms Rayner had in fact failed to not pay enough stamp duty – not council tax as Mr Farage claimed.

The Reform leader said her failure to pay the money “screams to entitlement” and claimed the government is “as bad if not worse” than their Conservative predecessors.

Ms Rayner’s replacement as deputy leader of the party will be decided through a vote by members – with details of the contest to be set out at a later date.

Mr Farage said during his speech that he expects there to be a “big rift in the Labour Party” and added: “Before long, there’ll be Labour MPs that reckon they’ve got a better chance on the Jeremy Corbyn sectarian ticket.

“I think there is every chance now of a general election happening in 2027.”

Mr Corbyn announced in July that he would be setting up a new left-wing political party.

Mr Farage told members he believes Reform is “on track” to enter government and that he is setting up an internal department to prepare for office.

He also said he would stop migrants arriving in the UK on small boats within a fortnight if he wins the next election.

The Reform leader had been welcomed onto the stage with pyrotechnic smoke and fireworks and a standing ovation. People in the crowd were seen drinking pints as they watched his speech.

Mr Farage also welcomed former Conservative culture secretary Nadine Dorries on stage after the former I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here contestant announced her defection from the Tories on the eve of the conference.

The pair had an awkward embrace on stage which included Mr Farage kissing Ms Dorries on the top of her head.

Ms Dorries told members: “I feel for the first time in a number of years as though I’m at a conference and amongst people who share the same principles and values as I have always held.”

Meanwhile, the Labour Party said Mr Farage was offering “anger without answers” with his speech.

It added in a statement: “His answer to the charge that Reform is a one-man band was to unveil one of the faces of failure from the last Tory government, Nadine Dorries.”

Dame Andrea Jenkyns, a former Conservative MP who defected to Reform after losing her seat in the last election, later walked on stage singing a song named Insomniac while wearing a sparkling outfit.

Dame Andrea reportedly wrote the song herself.

Starmer shuffles his pack

The opening day of the Reform conference has been held as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has been reshuffling his top team for the first time since taking office in July last year.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has kept her job, while David Lammy has been moved from foreign secretary to justice secretary.

Mr Lammy will also replace Ms Rayner as deputy prime minister.

Meanwhile, Yvette Cooper has been moved from home secretary to foreign secretary.

Shabana Mahmood will move from justice secretary to home secretary.