A man is accused of texting his lover saying LOL. Oops! after deliberately infecting him with HIV.
Daryll Rowe, a 26-year-old hairdresser from Edinburgh, allegedly told his partners he was HIV negative and pushed for his partners to have unprotected sex. When they insisted on using a condom, he is said to have tampered with the condom.
He later sent them mocking text messages telling them he was HIV positive and that they were at risk, Lewes Crown Court heard. One man was sent a text saying: Maybe you have the fever. I came inside you and I have HIV LOL. Oops!
Rowe is charged with infecting four men with the virus, and of attempting to infect a further six between October 2015 and December 2016. He was living and working in Brighton at the time of the alleged offences.
The court heard that one of the complainants last tested negative for HIV on the morning he met Rowe in October 2015, and did not have sex again. However, he was diagnosed with HIV two months later.
Another partner had insisted he use a condom, but Rowe later allegedly told him in an abusive phone call: I ripped the condom. Youre so stupid, you didnt even know.
One 25-year-old man had only had one sexual partner before Rowe, and considered him to be his boyfriend.
Prosecutor Caroline Carberry QC described his alleged crimes as a cynical and deliberate campaign to infect other men with HIV, adding: Unfortunately for many of the men he met, his campaign was successful.
Rowe was diagnosed with HIV while he was still living in Edinburgh in April 2015 after a sexual health clinic contacted him to tell him a former partner was infected.
Doctors found he was coping well with his diagnosis, Ms Carberry told the court, but were concerned when he refused vaccination for common illnesses HIV-positive patients are susceptible to, such as pneumonia.
They were also worried when he refused antiretroviral drugs which slow the development of the virus and make those infected with HIV less contagious, jurors heard. He was warned he could be prosecuted for passing [HIV] on or even putting someone at risk of contracting HIV from him, Carberry said.
He told his doctors he was not going to engage in any unprotected sex again, but failed to attend further appointments in Edinburgh and by this time he had moved to Brighton. He had no obvious family or other connections in the area, although he had been in communication online on a dating app Grindr with a number of men.
Through Grindr, the prosecution say, he was in contact with men that he would later go on to infect or attempt to infect with HIV.
Judge Christine Hensen has granted all victims the right to lifelong anonymity and the option to give evidence from behind a screen, so that they wont have to face Rowe in court. After two alleged victims came forward, Sussex Police launched Operation Brickhill and a community-wide public health warning in the Brighton area to look for further possible victims.
The trial, which is expected to last six weeks, continues.
Nutcases like this are why conservatives won't let gay men give blood v_V
You don't need to be a conservative to oppose letting gay men give blood. I'm left leaning and believe that HIV infection rates are too high among the gay male population to risk letting them give blood.
Seriously, compared to the general population the HIV rates for gay men are crazy high. ---
