SNS GroupA former gym boss accused of raping two women has insisted it was “not in his DNA” to hurt anyone.
James Clacher is said to have carried out the sex attacks in 2019 and 2020 after meeting the alleged victims on dating sites.
Jurors heard claims the 57-year-old later staged his own death before being traced “hanging upside down” on exercise equipment on a beach in Spain in May 2024.
Clacher denies the two rape charges.
He was giving evidence at his trial at the High Court in Glasgow.
The first woman, a 46-year-old mum, earlier claimed she was attacked by a fitness instructor she had known as James Clarke, whom she had met on Tinder.
The incident at home in Ayrshire allegedly occurred within minutes of her date turning up.
She told jurors last week how she was first pushed against a wall and then raped in her kitchen, before again in her bedroom.
But Clacher said: “I would never have grabbed anybody. It is not in my DNA to hurt people.”
He stated there had been “consensual” kissing and cuddling in the kitchen. He denied then “forcing” the woman upstairs.
Clacher insisted any sex in the bedroom was with her agreement.
He added: “No one was telling me to stop. No one telling me: ‘Do not do that’.”
Clacher claimed the woman then suggested trying “poppers” – a legal high – to apparently “heighten the sexual experience”.
He said he did not, but believed the woman did take them.
The court heard they again briefly had sex before Clacher alleged her “eyes began rolling to the back of her head”.
Clacher said: “I panicked. I did not know this lady, and then it appeared someone was having a seizure in front of me.”
After this, he said he was desperate to leave and went on to tell the woman that he had learned his brother had fallen ill and so had to go.
The second alleged victim earlier told jurors that she was attacked at her Glasgow home by a man called James she had met on the Bumble dating app.
The 31-year-old recalled how they had earlier gone out for food and walked on the beach before returning to her flat to watch a movie.
Clacher claimed there had been consensual sexual activity.
In her pre-recorded testimony, the woman said she tried to cover herself up before he then raped her.
Clacher was questioned by prosecutor Catriona MacLeod.
She put to him: “I suggest that you told lie upon lie – so many, what are you not lying about, I may ask.”
The advocate depute said this included going to “great lengths” to “create the impression” that he had taken his own life amid the allegations.
He was eventually traced to Nerja in Spain, where he was working out when found.
Ms MacLeod said “You had decided the net was tightening and it was, ‘I am off’. Why not clear your name?”
But, Clacher denied he was trying to escape justice or that he was lying.
The trial, before judge Lord Cubie, continues.
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