Nicholas Rossi appeals against attempt to extradite him from Scotland to the US
US authorities claim Nicholas Rossi is a fugitive who went on the run to evade serious sex charges. The 36-year-old claims he is an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight.
Monday 16 October 2023 16:55, UK
A rape suspect who allegedly faked his own death and fled from the US is to appeal against his extradition from Scotland.聽
A court in Edinburgh recently ruled Nicholas Rossi, 36, should be sent to America to face serious sex charges.
Rossi, who claims he is an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight, has been at the centre of a long-running extradition battle.
American law enforcement officials say he is a fugitive who fled to the UK to evade justice. But Rossi claims he is the victim of a "stitch-up" by UK and US authorities.
A court ruling in August - now rubber-stamped by the Scottish government - means he can be moved to the US, where he is wanted by authorities in Utah for the alleged rape of a woman in 2008.
Rossi also faces a number of complaints for alleged domestic violence in Rhode Island.
On Monday, the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) confirmed Rossi has lodged an appeal against the extradition order with the High Court.
The SCTS said a report has been requested and is expected within four weeks.
An international game of hide and seek ended when Rossi was tracked down via an Interpol red notice while unconscious in a COVID hospital ward in Glasgow in 2021.
He was arrested after his tattoos and fingerprints were matched to documents held by the National Crime Agency.
In August, the court said there was no impediment to Rossi being extradited and the decision was then placed before Scottish ministers.
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Sheriff Norman McFayden said Rossi - who converted to Judaism while being held at HMP Edinburgh, where he has been since 2022 - was "as dishonest and deceitful as he is evasive and manipulative".
His deceitfulness had "undoubtedly complicated and extended what is ultimately a straightforward case", the sheriff said.