HIV hairdresser ‘in denial’, court hears

A HAIRDRESSER accused of deliberately infecting a string of lovers with HIV told a nurse he may have done ‘stupid things’ because he was in denial over his own diagnosis, a court heard.

Daryll Rowe, 26, allegedly had sex with at least ten men he met on gay dating app Grindr after being diagnosed as HIV positive.

In each case he either refused to wear a condom or ‘sabotaged’ it before having sex.

Afterwards he would send ‘abusive’ and ‘mocking’ texts to the alleged victims claiming he had HIV, Lewes Crown Court heard.

Rowe, who was diagnosed with HIV in 2015, is charged with infecting five men and attempting to infect a further five with the virus.

The hairdresser, who is originally from Edinburgh but was living in Brighton at the time, denies all the charges, which relate to incidents between October 2015 and December 2016.

The court heard that he was interviewed by specialist HIV nurse Laura Ellis at the Chalmers Centre sexual health clinic in Edinburgh while he was on bail.

Caroline Carberry, prosecuting, asked Miss Ellis: ‘Daryll said he feels he was stupid and thinks he did a lot of the things he did because he was in denial about having HIV?’ The nurse replied: ‘Yes.’ Earlier the court was played a video of a police interview filmed after his arrest.

Asked by the interviewing officer whether he suffered from HIV, Rowe replied: ‘No.’ He said someone may have stolen his photos off Grindr to set him up as part of a ‘big, dramatic lie’.

Earlier the court heard Rowe had been diagnosed with HIV while he was still living in Edinburgh.

Doctors found he was ‘coping well’ with his diagnosis but were concerned when he refused vaccinations for common illnesses to which HIV positive patients are susceptible, such as pneumonia.

The trial, which is expected to last six weeks, continues.