A woman has told a court that she did not flee from her home following an alleged rape attack in fear her “son might not have a mother right now”.
The alleged victim was giving evidence at the High Court in Glasgow in the trial against James Clacher.
Clacher, 57, has been accused of the violent rape of two women – one in Troon, South Ayrshire, in 2019 and another in Glasgow in September 2020.
He has denied any wrongdoing and has lodged a special defence, claiming any sex was consensual.
Giving evidence yesterday, the alleged 2019 victim told jurors of how she was allegedly raped in her own home within 15 minutes of meeting Clacher for the first time.
The woman said moments after telling her Tinder date to “make himself comfortable” while she finished getting ready for their night out, she was reportedly pushed against a wall and brutally assaulted.
She then claimed she was further abused after being led upstairs while in a state of “shock”.
During cross-examination on Thursday, defence advocate Gail Gianni asked the woman why she did not flee for safety after she testified she had gone to the bathroom and Clacher was still in her bedroom.
The woman responded: “If I tried to run, my son might not have a mother right now.”
Ms Gianni highlighted a number of discrepancies in the woman’s police statement and court testimony.
In response to allegations she made in court, which are too graphic to print, but were not recorded in her police report, she claimed she was too “embarrassed” to tell the force at the time, as the details were “humiliating and degrading”.
She said: “I didn’t want to talk about it at that point.”
Ms Gianni also noted how the woman told police she “wasn’t forced up the stairs”, which differed from her court evidence.
The woman explained that she later believed she had been “coerced”.
It was put to the woman that Mr Clacher’s stance is that the pair kissed on and off for a “period of about 10 minutes” before she offered to show him around the house.
It is claimed by the defence that the pair were making out in her bedroom, before the woman allegedly asked Clacher to stop so as she could “get some poppers to make the experience more pleasurable”.
After the woman reportedly returned from the bathroom, the defence alleges the sex continued.
The woman denied that anything consensual had taken place, refuting claims of taking recreational drugs.
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The court heard that the woman and Clacher met multiple times following the alleged attack, which included going out for the complainer’s birthday and the accused also being invited back into her home.
They also met for lunch about a week after the reported incident, with the accuser saying: “It is my belief he was trying to prevent me from going to the police or taking it any further.”
The complainer said she agreed to meet as she “wanted closure” but claimed she could not remember what was discussed during their lunch.
When asked by advocate depute Catriona MacLeod why she continued to communicate with Clacher and have him in her house given her allegation, she claimed she felt “sorry for him” as his brother had reportedly died.
The woman said: “I believe I was being groomed over a long time afterwards.”
She added that it was her way of “coping” with the alleged assault and subsequent “trauma” and was “not an expert” on why she behaved like that.
The woman stressed she did not intend to report the alleged attack to police at the time, adding: “I just wanted things to feel normal.”
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Jurors were also told of how the woman later posted messages on Facebook and contacted Clacher’s family and friends, accusing him of being a “rapist” and them of “supporting a rapist”.
She told the court she took action as she was “frightened he would hurt someone else” due to the nature of his work as a dietician and fitness instructor.
When asked by Ms MacLeod if she was lying and making the allegation up, the woman replied: “Absolutely not.”
The trial, before judge Lord Cubie, continues.
