US fugitive Nicholas Rossi admits he changed his name

Nicholas Rossi - the American who fought extradition from Scotland, claiming to be the victim of mistaken identity - has admitted for the first time that he changed his name.

Giving evidence at a bail hearing in one of two separate rape cases he faces in Utah, Rossi denied fleeing to the UK in 2017 to escape arrest.

Speaking with an American accent, he told the court he had left the country and later used the alias of Arthur Knight in order to escape threats.

Rossi was extradited to the US at the start of this year claiming to be an Irish orphan who had never been to America.

Rossi was arrested while being treated for Covid-19 at a hospital in Glasgow in December 2021 after staff recognised his tattoos - images of which had been circulated by Interpol.

Throughout the two year legal process he denied he was Rossi, continuing to insist his name was Arthur Knight and that he was the victim of mistaken identity.

He explained away the tattoos, saying they must have been done while he was unconscious in hospital.

Justice Secretary Angela Constance signed an order granting Rossi's extradition in September 2023, and he was flown back to America in January.

During the latest hearing, he was claimed he fled the country after his life was threatened by elected officials in Rhode Island.

Asked to identify the people he claims threatened to kill him and his family, Rossi refused, telling the state prosecutor: "I don't want to give a mouse cheese."

At that point Utah Fourth District Judge Derek Pullan briefly closed the court to hear evidence in private.

At the conclusion of proceedings Rossi's request for bail was denied after the judge ruled there was "clear and convincing" evidence that, if granted, he would attempt to flee.

Not guilty pleas in the case were entered by his lawyer ahead of a further hearing in two weeks time.