US rape suspect Nicholas Rossi fails to appear for extradition hearing after ‘punching and spitting on guards’
FUGITIVE sex fiend Nicholas Rossi failed to appear in court after an alleged bust-up with court security.
Rossi was expected to appear in the dock at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Thursday as part of his long-running extradition battle, which was launched after authorities in the US state of Utah accused the 35-year-old of sex offences.
However once proceedings began prosecutor Paul Harvey revealed there had been an “altercation” in the cells below the court and Rossi would not be attending the hearing.
Mr Harvey’s submission came just after it emerged that Rossi had appointed another lawyer to represent him - an Aberdeen-based solicitor called Stuart Murray.
A source claimed Rossi had repeatedly punched and kicked a security officer moments after arriving from HMP Edinburgh.
They said: “The place was in uproar - Rossi was just about to be processed and battered and spat at a security guard.
“The guards were in shock and they ran to get the police.
But Mr Murray - believed to be Rossi’s seventh legal representative - said his client claimed he had been assaulted by security staff.
Sheriff Norman McFadyen stated: “It’s my understanding that Geo Amey are not prepared to bring him to court.”
Rossi, 35, is fighting extradition to the States over allegations of rape, sex attacks and fraud. He was nicked in a Glasgow hospital in 2021 while battling Covid.
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He continues to claim to be an innocent Irishman called Arthur Knight despite this being debunked at previous court hearings.
Sheriff McFadyen told the court he would allow two further weeks for expert reports to be acquired, and set a deadline for these to be provided for May 4.
He said another preliminary hearing would be scheduled for May 22, and Rossi was remanded in custody.
Mr Murray told the court that Rossi’s wife Miranda - who was in attendance at court - had been forced to relocate from her plush home in Glasgow’s west end for Perth due to financial pressures.
Rossi has been caught up in an international manhunt since 2020, when it is alleged he faked his own death and fled to the UK to evade prosecution.
The fugitive was identified using fingerprints, tattoos and mugshots but Rossi claimed he’d been tattooed while in a coma and his prints had been taken while he was receiving Covid treatment.
The Scottish Prison Service said it could not comment on individual prisoners.
Police Scotland was approached for comment.
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