A man accused of faking his death and fleeing from the US to avoid rape charges has faced an alleged victim in court as a jury trial in Utah began.

The man known in the US as Nicholas Rossi, whose legal name is Nicholas Alahverdian, is accused of sexually assaulting two women in Utah back in 2008.

American prosecutors are trying the cases separately, with the first set in Salt Lake County.

Rossi, 38, was extradited from Scotland to the US in January 2024 after a lengthy case in the courts.

He came to the attention of authorities when he was identified by staff at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow in December 2021 while being treated for Covid-19 under the name Arthur Knight.

Rossi was arrested after being identified by his distinctive tattoos as a person the

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