A dangerous individual who intentionally infected vulnerable sexual partners, including a 15-year-old boy, with HIV faces a life sentence with a minimum term of 23 years and 42 days. Convicted on five counts of rape and seven counts of causing grievous bodily harm, the offender targeted younger men met in Newcastle-area bars or via the Grindr app. Victims ranged in age from their late 20s to just 15.
Impact on Victims
One victim described his first same-sex encounter with the predator as a naive experience, leading to an HIV diagnosis. Two others were only 17 and 18 at the time.
The 15-year-old schoolboy learned of his infection via a call from a sexual health nurse right after stepping off the school bus. Now an adult, he recalled: “Everything shattered, everything went numb. I was mortified, not only at the situation, at myself. How has this happened to me, I felt like I was sinking.”
Another victim expressed outrage: “The whole thing is so unfair, he knew he was infected, and he thought he could get away with infecting me, that he was immune from any consequences. He didn’t even give me the option to take any pre or post-HIV exposure treatment.” A third added: “I blame myself for letting the monster in.”
Court Verdict and Sentencing
Judge Edward Bindloss labeled the offender “dangerous” during sentencing at court. The predator refused to attend, remaining in his cell, and received his sentence in absentia. The judge remarked: “Refusal to attend today is entirely in keeping with the indifference you have shown to the suffering of others.” He noted of the victims: “All were young men, all had their futures taken away, all deliberately because of you.”
Prosecutors proved intent to transmit HIV, beyond mere recklessness. Senior prosecutor Amy Dixon stated: “When we looked at all of that surrounding evidence in relation to his sexual activity with the victim-survivors, it was clear that he’d intended to pass on this virus. He hadn’t just been reckless.”
Offender’s Background and Investigation
Diagnosed with HIV in 2010, the offender could have managed his viral load with treatment but stopped adhering in 2016, rendering him infectious. He engaged in unprotected sex with men from 2016 to 2023, including rapes, despite warnings.
Active in Newcastle’s gay and chemsex scene, he worked in bars and a Tyneside sex shop and attempted to launch an HIV charity. He denied charges, even claiming some victims sought infection. His defense counsel, Craig Hassall KC, noted he told a probation officer: “he feels sick at the thought that he had transferred HIV to others” and “maintains he did not do so intentionally.”
Detective Chief Inspector Emma Smith described him as showing “absolutely no remorse,” calling him “arrogant” and “dismissive.” She highlighted his false claims that victims wanted HIV and his boasts that police would fail. The complex case required 35,000 officer hours, 450 statements, and 37 witnesses. Medical evidence linked victims’ HIV strains to his, though proving he knew the 15-year-old’s age prevented an underage sex charge.
The offender also received sentences for drug dealing and withholding his phone PIN from police.
