Loch

Woman who knew she had HIV is jailed for infecting boyfriend
By Simon de Bruxelles

A WOMAN was jailed for two years yesterday for knowingly infecting her boyfriend with HIV.
The defendant, 20, who cannot be named to protect her victim?s identity, is believed to be the first woman convicted in Britain of causing grievous bodily harm by having unprotected sex.

Cardiff Crown Court was told that the woman had sex with the boyfriend for ten months despite knowing that she was HIV-positive. She had contracted the virus, which causes Aids, at the age of 15 from having sexual intercourse with another man.

In a letter to Judge Christopher Llewellyn Jones, the victim said: ?I now have to live with being infected with HIV for the rest of my life.

?I will never forget the day I went to the clinic with my father and my brother and I was told that I was HIV-positive. I can never forgive her for what she has done and the terrible pain my family is going through. My mum brought me up always to tell the truth.

?My mum worries about me all the time and my dad has had an angina attack.

?My mum didn?t like her from the start but I was 18 years old and she was my first proper girlfriend and I had to learn from my own mistakes.

?And learn I did, the hard way.?

The court was told that when the woman began the relationship with her former classmate she initially had sex with him using condoms.

Andrew Jones, prosecuting, told the court that the couple then began having unprotected sexual intercourse over a period of ten months, during which the boyfriend became infected with HIV.

Mr Jones told the court: ?For at least ten months she was HIV-positive and chose not to inform her boyfriend. He later began to hear rumours about his girlfriend and went to visit her. He asked her if the rumours were true about her HIV status.

?She told him: ?Don?t be so stupid?. She even showed him paperwork that proved that she was not HIV positive. He now believes that the paperwork was altered.?

The boyfriend, who was then 19, had an HIV test which proved positive.

Mr Jones said: ?The effect on this young man was drastic. His life has been turned upside down after discovering she had sex with him knowing she had the virus.?

A letter from the woman in which she apologised to her former boyfriend was also read to the court.

The woman wrote: ?I know I hurt you but I didn?t know how to tell you. I?m really, really sorry. I just didn?t want to believe that I had HIV.
?I was 15 when I slept with a boy but I thought it was love. I just hoped and prayed you wouldn?t catch it. I know it was a horrible thing to do.?

The woman, from Newport, Gwent, admitted unlawfully inflicting grivous bodily harm.

Timothy Hills, defending, told the court: ?It is a great tragedy. Here is a young woman who was infected by someone else who then passes the virus on to a young man.?

Jailing her for two years, Judge Llewellyn Jones told the defendant: ?You never told your boyfriend and as a result he is now HIV-positive. You even sought to mislead him. His health is now devastated for life.

?In my judgment what you did to that man is so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified. It is plain that no sentence I can impose will restore the health of that man, but I must impose a sentence which brings home to people the seriousness of this type of offence.?

In November 2003 Mohammed Dica, an asylum seeker from Mitcham in Surrey, became the first person in England and Wales to be convicted of ?biological? GBH after infecting two women with HIV.

Inner London Crown Court was told that he knew that he was infected but nevertheless persuaded the women to have unprotected sex. He was jailed for eight years.

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