A notorious paedophile, who is prison pals with US fugitive Nicholas Rossi, was called to testify at his extradition hearing.
William King, who was jailed last March for six years over the horrific abuse of three youngsters, is held at Edinburgh’s Saughton Prison alongside Rossi.
King, 59, claimed rape suspect Rossi was picked on by prison staff who were “constantly hounding” him while he was held on remand.
The child sex beast, who was also caged in 2016 for abusing two young girls in the 1990s, claimed jail staff told Rossi he didn’t need a wheelchair or oxygen.
But Sheriff Norman McFadyen repeatedly admonished King for “straying” away from the questions to deliver his diatribes.
King’s evidence, delivered via video link, lasted less than ten minutes at the city’s sheriff court on Friday.
Mungo Bovey KC, acting for Rossi, told the court on Thursday he didn’t intend to call further witnesses.
But Rossi, 35, exploded at the decision, telling the hearing: “I do. Counsel is dismissed.”
After consulting his client on Friday morning, Mr Bovey acceded to his client’s desire to call King in his defence.
King said he was an inmate with Rossi in Saughton’s Hermiston Hall and claimed his pal, who is using a wheelchair, was “treated abysmally”.
King claimed there was an incident when Rossi was “lying on the floor” and staff wouldn’t help, telling him “You can walk, there’s nowt wrong with you.”
The sex offender claimed Rossi pleaded for help, adding: “They picked on him from there on. It was overkill. It was constant hounding. Every time he asked for help they would refuse.”
King told Mr Bovey he’d “never seen” Rossi walk, adding: “Staff said they were going to get the wheelchair and oxygen off him.”
The court previously heard from Dr Barbara Mundweil, a GP at Saughton Prison, who said Rossi has no medical need for using a wheelchair.
King claimed Rossi’s condition has “deteriorated” and he’d “went into his shell”. He added: “It’s not good for him.”
King’s evidence ended after Sheriff McFadyen told him he’d been “straying” from the questions Mr Bovey asked.
Rossi, who fought the bid to return him to his US homeland where he is wanted in Utah on a rape charge, continues to claim he’s an Irishman called Arthur Knight.
He was arrested at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in December 2021 while receiving treatment for Covid-19.
Last March a man who was abused by King claimed the paedophile threatened to kill him if he told of their “little secret”.
The victim, who was 12 years old when he was subjected to horrific abuse, spoke out after King was jailed for six years at the High Court in Glasgow.
King preyed on two girls and a boy in Edinburgh and Dalgety Bay in Fife between 1982 and 2000.
The victim, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Record: “He would say to me, ‘this is our little secret’ and say he would kill me if I told anyone. I was terrified and really believed he would.
“He was so aggressive and frightening. I was just a wee guy. I was scared of him.”
King was convicted of a total of three charges of lewd and libidinous behaviour towards the youngsters.
He had previously been jailed for five years in 2016 for sexually abusing young girls.
King raped a 12-year-old girl and forced another child to perform a sex act on him during years of abuse.
King was convicted of sexually abusing one of his victims between 1992 and 1995 at houses in Edinburgh and Inverkeithing, Fife, and having unlawful sexual intercourse with her as a 12-year-old child.
He was found guilty of indecency towards a second girl who he preyed on from the age of seven until she was 10, from 1990 to 1994, at houses in Edinburgh and Inverkeithing.
Rossi’s extradition hearing continues.
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