Violent double-life police officer unmasked as rapist who tried to murder women in 14-year spree

A POLICE officer has been unmasked as a violent rapist who carried out a series of attempted murders and sexual attacks on women over the last 14 years. PC Alan Greer, who was a 47-year-old married father of one, took his own life on May 6 this year – but his “truly shocking” crimes were not revealed by Police Scotland until two months after his death. PC Alan Greer has been unmasked as a violent rapist Credit: POLICE SCOTLAND He joined Strathclyde Police in 2009 before it merged with Police Scotland in 2013 Credit: Alamy His wife and family are set to be “completely oblivious” to his double life. According to the BBC, his first known victim was a woman he raped in her home in Glasgow in 2012 after she called the police to report being the victim of a crime. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! The woman reported the sex attack by Greer late last year, sparking one of Police Scotland’s biggest ever anti-corruption inquiries. A source close to the investigation said: “It feels a bit like this could be Police Scotland‘s Wayne Couzens moment.” Couzens was a Met Police officer who was jailed for the rape and murder of Sarah Everard in London five years ago. Detectives have so far uncovered a further eight victims, five of whom were sex workers, attacked while Greer was off duty. It has emerged that Greer used hundreds of prostitutes throughout his police career, and it is anticipated more victims of his violence will be identified. Assistant Chief Constable Lynn Ratcliff, gold commander for the investigation, said what the inquiry had found was “truly shocking”. Most read in The Sun She said: “This officer has clearly abused his power and has revisited someone that he’s encountered in the course of his duties. “But this victim was brave enough to come and speak to us, and that really was the trigger point for us starting our investigation. “That’s allowed us to proactively identify eight further victims.” Greer, who was born in Australia in 1978, moved to the UK when he was six. He joined Strathclyde Police in 2009 before it merged with Police Scotland in 2013 and had 17 years of apparently unblemished service. Senior officers insisted there were no “red flags” to spot his offending sooner. The investigation into PC Greer began at the end of 2025 when a woman in her late thirties reported him to the force. She told how in 2012, uniformed officers had attended her Glasgow home after she reported a disturbance. Greer has been dubbed ‘Police Scotland’s Wayne Couzens’ Credit: PA Timeline of investigation into Alan Greer's violent crimes 2012 – A woman in Glasgow calls Police Scotland and reports a crime. Several uniformed officers then attend her home. One officer later returns alone and rapes the victim. 2018 – A sex worker in Glasgow makes a complaint to officers about a customer who was violent towards her and gives them the man’s number. This was Greer’s mobile number, however, the force did not have a record of who it belonged to at the time. Late 2025 – The woman who was raped in her home in 2012 comes forward about the sex attack. The force traces the officers who initially went to her home and discovers that Greer has been tracking and searching her crime file for updates despite having no legitimate reason to do so. February 2026 – Police Scotland’s anti-corruption unit launched an investigation. Greer was found to have searched the police system for information relating to the sex worker’s phone number. April 2026 – Greer is arrested in connection with the rape in 2021. Police raid Greer’s family home and seize all mobile phones and laptops. The huge scale of his crimes starts to emerge when these devices are searched. May 2026 – Greer took his own life after being suspended from duty as the investigation progresses. The officers took her statement and left, but a few hours later, one of the officers returned, alone, and raped her. The case was handed to the force’s anti-corruption unit (ACU) who, by April, had secured a statement from her and were able to identify the officers who had attended. And they could see that in the weeks following the 2012 attack, one of those officers – later identified as being PC Greer – repeatedly monitored the women’s crime file on the police computer – perhaps checking to see if she made further disclosures about what happened later that day. A critical incident was declared and on April 24 this year, police raided his home and arrested him. He was said to appear “shocked” to be arrested on suspicion of the 2012 rape. He had seven mobile phones and a laptop seized. Thousands of graphic videos and images were recovered, revealing that Greer had used hundreds of prostitutes throughout his police career. Officers are not yet even halfway through the files, but have already identified five sex workers who have been seriously sexually assaulted. If PC Greer was alive, it is understood police would have sought charges of attempted murder in some of the cases. Three other victims have been identified, including two female police officers PC Greer had taken inappropriate photographs of while they were training. As his serial offending was emerging, detectives took steps to ensure his family were not in danger, and social work officers, accompanied by local police, visited his home on May 5. He took his own life the following day. A source close to the investigation told the BBC: “Some of his colleagues thought this was a callous move on behalf of the police, saying he was under criminal investigation when he’d only just died. Police arrested Greer and raided his family home in April this year Credit: Tom Farmer – The Sun Glasgow 'This investigation is about giving victims a voice' POLICE Scotland has urged other potential victims of Greer to come forward and speak to officers, stressing that the force's investigation is about "giving victims a voice". Assistant Chief Constable Lynn Ratcliff, Professionalism and Assurance, said: “My thoughts, firstly, are with the victims in this case who have spoken up and reported these allegations, as well as with Alan Greer’s family, friends and colleagues who have been deeply affected by these reports and his death. “The investigation into this matter is one of the largest and most complex enquiries ever undertaken by the Anti-Corruption Unit and significant work is ongoing to fully ascertain the extent of offending and identify and support as many victims as possible. “Clearly Alan Greer cannot stand trial for these allegations of serious violent sexual offending, including attempted murder. “But this investigation is about identifying and supporting potential victims, giving them a voice, and establishing the full circumstances. “It is essential that members of the public, victims, and witnesses, feel confident speaking with the police and know the overwhelming majority of our officers serve with professionalism and integrity to protect people, investigate matters, and bring offenders to justice. “I would encourage anyone with any information or who may be a victim in this case to please come forward and speak to us. You will be listened to and given the support you need. “In recent years, and advanced by Lady Elish Angiolini’s review of Complaints Handling, Investigations and Misconduct Issues published in 2020, there has been a Scotland-wide focus on police ethics, conduct and scrutiny. “Police Scotland has fully engaged with a range of developments and our commitment to safeguarding policing’s integrity has never been stronger.” Anyone with information or who thinks they may have been a victim in this case, is asked to please contact the enquiry team. This can be done via email at OperationSubmarine@scotland.police.uk, or by telephone. A dedicated mobile number with text facility has been established – 07484 438 539. A landline for the enquiry team, with voicemail facility, is also available – 0300 426 6644. “But it’s clear they were all totally in the dark about this guy’s offending. “Folk will be in a state of shock when they learn the full truth. I don’t think anyone really knows how bad it is yet. “It feels a bit like this could be Police Scotland’s Wayne Couzens moment.” Couzens is a former Metropolitan Police officer serving a whole-life sentence for the rape and murder of Sarah Everard. He abused his police role to stage a fake arrest, highlighting severe vetting failures and multiple failed opportunities to uncover the risk he posed. ACC Ratcliff said the comparison was unhelpful. She said: “At this stage, we’ve got no evidence to suggest [missed red flags] is the case, but we absolutely keep that under review because one of the things that we have to do from inquiries of this nature is make sure that we capture and we take on board the lessons learned.” The assistant chief constable insisted the vetting landscape in Police Scotland is “markedly different” to when Greer joined Strathclyde Police in 2009, and that Greer would not pass vetting checks today. ACC Ratcliff said: “If there is anyone who believes that they may have been a victim of Alan Greer, we would urge them to have the courage and confidence to come forward and tell us about it. “They can be assured that we will listen, and that we will investigate, and we will do our best to make sure that they get the support that they need going forward.” Comment now