Kochi: Naijil Paul, the 47-year-old care home nurse, who had been declared a fugitive criminal and was recently sentenced to eight years imprisonment in Scotland on charges of raping female staff, was tracked down by Kalamassery police. 

He had spent nearly six years in India after fleeing the UK on the eve of his trial. Paul, who lived in the UK for around 15 years and worked as manager of Acorn Park Care Home in Lanarkshire, was extradited to Scotland in October after a long legal process triggered by a British request to India in early 2025. On Monday, the High Court in Glasgow sentenced him to seven years and nine months in jail, followed by two years of supervision, and placed him on the sex offenders' register for life. 

According to a report by the Glasgow Times, the court found Paul had used his position of power in 2018 to prey on vulnerable junior staff, including a 26-year-old who was struggling financially after returning from sick leave. He locked her in an office, threatened that she would be fired and her children left homeless if she resisted, and raped her. He also sexually assaulted two younger colleagues, aged 19 and 21.

Paul was scheduled to stand trial in December 2019, but he failed to appear and flew out of Glasgow Airport the day before, triggering a warrant and an international manhunt. A warrant was issued, and he remained in India for nearly six years. In 2024, the UK’s Nursing and Midwifery Council struck him off its register for misconduct, citing his refusal to face charges.

In early 2025, the UK formally sought his extradition, calling him a “fugitive criminal”. The Ministry of External Affairs, Interpol, and the CBI coordinated the action, securing an arrest warrant from the Patiala House Court in Delhi and passing it to the Kerala Police.

Kalamassery SHO Dileesh said Paul was traced to his home in North Kalamassery. Then SHO Inspector Latheef MB formed a seven-member team -SI Singh CR, ASI Najeeb KA, ASI Shini Prabhakaran, and CPOs Mahin, Shibu Shahjahan, Adarsh, and Sajanraj - to carry out the arrest.

According to ASI Najeeb, officers in mufti kept watch until they confirmed Paul was inside. 

“We got the arrest warrant under the Extradition Act. We arrested him and produced him in the Kalamassery CJM Court to secure a transit warrant to Delhi on January 24, 2025. He was lodged in Kakkanad jail for two days, and then CPO Adarsh and I took him to Delhi by train on January 26 and produced him at Patiala House Court on the 28th,” Najeeb said. 

Najeeb also remembered Paul as fully cooperative to the arrest and following procedures. “He did not resist the arrest. Throughout the journey, he appeared tense and upset. He claimed the whole case was a trap. We did not know anything about the case because we were only implementing the warrant. Now we hear he has been convicted,” Najeeb recalled.

Paul’s advocate in Delhi, Bibin John, recalled that the Patiala House Court remanded him to judicial custody on January 28, after which he was taken to Tihar Jail. “Initially, a bail petition was moved before the Sessions Court, but it was rejected considering the gravity of the alleged offence while extradition was underway,” John said. 

“We then moved to the Delhi High Court. But on the hearing day, Paul voluntarily submitted a statement expressing his willingness to face trial in Scotland,” he added.

With that declaration, the High Court dismissed the bail plea. The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate then expedited the extradition proceedings and delivered the final order on June 9, directing the government to hand him over to UK authorities. He was flown out in October.

“During the trial and his stay in jail, nobody from his family came to Delhi enquiring about him. His wife, who lives in Scotland, was in contact with us to know about the case. He seemed tired of the legal fight and finally agreed to be extradited,” John recalled. 

Back in Glasgow, sentencing judge Lord Renucci condemned Paul’s attitude, noting that even in pre-sentencing reports he continued to blame the victims and described the rape as a “consensual sexual encounter”.

“You appear to accept little responsibility. You failed to turn up to trial in 2019 and fled to India,” the judge said in court. Calling the crimes “premeditated”, he ruled that Paul posed “a risk to young and vulnerable women,” as reported by the Glasgow Times.

Onmanorama spoke to his family in Kochi, who insisted he was “framed” by “racist colleagues”, who were resentful of his rise at the care home where he worked. According to his family, he is innocent and has already decided to file an appeal against the Scottish court's verdict. Speaking from his home in North Kalamassery, his father, Paul Xavier, claimed the case was a “fabricated one born out of professional jealousy”. '

“From the very beginning, my son had told me about the case. He said it was a trap resulting from racist attitudes by some colleagues. He was promoted as the manager, and they were not happy about it. The case is fabricated, and he is about to challenge the verdict legally,” Xavier told Onmanorama.

Xavier also rejected reports that his son fled Scotland to evade trial. “I was unwell and had to undergo surgery. That’s why he came home from Scotland in 2019. He was planning to return, but then the COVID-19 lockdown began, and he could not go back,” Xavier said. While Xavier and his wife live in Kalamasserry, Paul’s wife and child continue to live in Scotland. Paul is likely to challenge the conviction from prison in Scotland.