Nicholas Rossi: Alleged US fugitive faces further rape allegation

A man who denies being US fugitive Nicholas Rossi is facing further allegations of rape and sexual assault.

Authorities in Utah are seeking the extradition of the 35-year-old man, who was arrested in a Scottish hospital last year.

They allege he is Mr Rossi, who has been accused of raping a 21-year-old woman in the US state.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard that two more extradition requests have now been submitted.

Advocate depute Paul Harvey told the court that one relates to an allegation of rape in Salt Lake City and another to an allegation of sexual assault elsewhere in Utah.

He said the allegations had been made by women who had now come forward as a result of the extradition process.

Mr Harvey added: "On Friday October 28 the US Embassy in London issued a diplomatic notice for supplementary extradition requests, requesting the extradition of the person.

"This morning Scottish ministers certified the extradition requests and copies of both extradition requests and the Scottish ministers' certification were served on the requested person by a police constable at the court this morning."

The man insists his name is Arthur Knight and that he is from Ireland, and claims to have been the victim of mistaken identity.

But the court has previously heard that his fingerprints and "distinctive" tattoos matched those of Mr Rossi.

Sheriff Norman McFadyen adjourned the case until Friday, when he is expected to deliver a ruling on the man's identity.

Witnesses including a charge nurse who treated the man in hospital and two police officers who arrested him told the court on Tuesday that they had seen distinctive tattoos on his arm that were similar to images of Mr Rossi's tattoos.

But the man said he did not have the tattoos until he spent time in the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow.

He had checked himself into the hospital under the name of Arthur Knight in October of last year after contracting Covid.

He was later arrested at the hospital after Police Scotland received an Interpol red notice showing Mr Rossi's face and tattoos.

The images of Mr Rossi's tattoos were recognised by medical staff at the QEUH as being similar to those on the arm of the man claiming to be Mr Knight.

Giving evidence to the court on Tuesday, the man claimed that he must have been given the tattoos while he was in a coma to make it look like he was Nicholas Rossi.

The court heard from a fingerprint expert on Monday who said prints taken from the man by police in HMP Saughton in July were "identical" to Mr Rossi's fingerprints on the Interpol red notice and a subsequent extradition request from the US.

On Tuesday, another expert said she had also compared the man's fingerprints with those of Mr Rossi and had found that "there were similar characteristics on each that were unique to that person".

But the man, who has appeared in court in a wheelchair, said the fingerprints on the extradition request had been meddled with.

And when asked why his voice switched from posh English to other accents during the hearing, he blamed oxygen deprivation.