Rugby star gave me HIV, ex-partner tells court

Gareth Thomas, the former rugby star hailed as a gay sporting pioneer, is being sued in Britain’s High Court for allegedly ‘‘deceptively’’ transmitting HIV to a former partner.

Thomas, 48, has been accused by Ian Baum of hiding his HIV status when the pair were a couple then, knowing he was carrying the virus, ‘‘failing to take reasonable care’’ to ensure that he did not pass on the infection.

It is understood that Thomas will vigorously defend the legal claim.

Baum, who had an on-off relationship with Thomas from 2013, alleges that he noticed the rugby player taking pills when they first became a couple, but was told these were ‘‘vitamin tablets’’ and the labels had been ripped off bottles.

He alleges he found out that Thomas was carrying the disease only when he spotted a tablet marked GSK1 on the floor at a friend’s house. ‘‘On googling the GSK1 pill, the claimant discovered that the defendant was taking antiviral HIV medication,’’ documents say.

In a civil claim filed in London in recent weeks, lawyers for Baum say that Thomas failed ‘‘to take reasonable care’’ to ensure that he did not pass on HIV to his partner.

At the start of their relationship, Baum recorded a negative test for the virus, the documents say.

Thomas came out as gay in 2009 near the end of a distinguished rugby career, which included 100 caps for Wales and captaining the British and Irish Lions. He revealed that he was living with HIV in 2019. He is a patron of the charity the Terrence Higgins Trust and also sits on the HIV Commission which has the aim of ending new cases in England by 2030.

In the legal claim representatives for Baum allege that Thomas ‘‘portrayed himself as a spokesperson for HIV without ever disclosing that he deceptively transmitted HIV to the claimant in 2014’’, just months into their relationship. Baum, 59, a private carer, is claiming a six-figure sum in damages for serious physical and psychological injury including loss of life expectancy of six to eight years.

Lawyers acting for Thomas have acknowledged the claim but no defence has been filed. They have until early next month to do so.

Baum alleges that Thomas was unfaithful in their relationship. He says he discovered in 2015 that Thomas was ‘‘seeking unknown men for unprotected sex at a well-known car park near junction 18 of the M4 motorway’’.

In the court papers Baum accuses Thomas of coercive and controlling behaviour to try to keep his HIV status secret, prevent it from becoming known that he had deceived Baum about his HIV status and stop his former partner pursuing a criminal prosecution.

The claim goes on to say: ‘‘That information, had it become publicly known, would have been extremely damaging to the defendant’s public reputation as a person who had spoken out about his homosexuality and LGBT issues. Since that time the defendant has portrayed himself as a spokesperson for HIV without ever disclosing that he deceptively transmitted HIV to the claimant in 2014.’’

In the legal filing Baum says he went to a sexual health clinic in November 2013 because of an STI and was advised to take an HIV test, which was negative. He alleges that Thomas told him that he would take a test in Wales while visiting family, reporting a few days later that he was also negative. Yet, according to the papers, Baum ‘‘avers that the defendant lied to the claimant in relation to his HIV status as he was, and knew he was, already positive for the virus’’. – Sunday Times