A man facing charges in the US has lost his appeal against extradition from Scotland.

Scottish ministers signed an order in September giving permission for Nicholas Rossi, 36, to be extradited, following a lengthy case in the Scottish courts.

Rossi lodged an appeal against the extradition order with the High Court, which was heard in Edinburgh last week.

However in a decision published on Thursday, Lord Justice Clerk Lady Dorrian, Lord Malcolm and Lord Armstrong refused the appeal.

They said: “The court concludes that there is no merit in any of the appellant’s arguments.

“It follows that leave to appeal under section 103 of the 2003 Act must be refused.”

Rossi initially came to the attention of the authorities after he became ill with Covid-19 and was taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow in December 2021.

Despite a sheriff ruling that he is Rossi, he claims he is a victim of mistaken identity and is an Irish orphan called Arthur Knight.

Representing himself in court on Thursday last week, Rossi moved a number of preliminary motions, including one calling for an extension to his appeal period to allow him more time to lead new evidence.

He also moved to be granted bail, and to have the court impose restrictions on the media reporting of his case.

Rossi again argued he was the subject of mistaken identity and objected to lawyers referring to him as Rossi, which drew a rebuke from Lady Dorrian.

She reminded Rossi his identity had already been established through earlier court proceedings and insisted this would be the name she would use to address him during the appeal hearing.

Lady Dorrian, sitting last Thursday alongside Lord Malcolm and Lord Armstrong, also rejected each of Rossi’s preliminary motions, stating it was not the High Court’s place to hear fresh evidence in the case and it was also not in a position to grant bail.

Their written decision said much of the material Rossi had included in his note of appeal had “absolutely no relevance” to it and the “only vaguely recognisable ground” he submitted was that of defective representation.

The decision concluded with a reference to a sheriff’s previous statement about facets of Rossi’s character complicating what he considered to be “a straightforward case”.

It said: “We agree with the sheriff that the appellant’s case is, at its core, a straightforward one. The evidence supporting that the appellant is Nicholas Rossi was overwhelming. He did not, nor does he now, produce anything which would suggest to the contrary.

“The conspiracy theories which he tendered in explanation were properly rejected. The sheriff carefully considered the submissions made on the appellant’s behalf as to the potential barriers to his extradition.

“Having heard evidence from various medical witnesses, there was quite simply nothing to support that he was suffering from any mental health condition, far less one which would render it unjust or oppressive to extradite him.”

They said “nothing placed before the court demonstrates that the appellant’s trial would either be unfair or that any of his other convention rights would be violated if extradited”.