COPS NAB SCOTS HIV FUGITIVE
Bail jumper due in court over claims he deliberately infected men with virus
A SCOT accused of deliberately infecting male lovers with HIV has been arrested after five weeks on the run.
Daryll Rowe, 26, has been charged with eight counts of causing GBH and one count of attempting to cause GBH in the Brighton area.
The Edinburgh hairdresser was arrested earlier this year but skipped bail in November, sparking a nationwide manhunt.
Police believed he may have returned to his home city but he was found in Wallsend near Newcastle on Friday. He is in custody and is due in Crown Court in Newcastle today.
Rowe’s mum Michelle, of Edinburgh, previously spoke to the Record and begged her son to give himself up.
She said: “We just want to know he’s safe. He needs to come back.”
Sussex Police and Brighton and Hove City Council, who have a large gay community, issued public health warnings amid fears condoms were being sabotaged.
Officials urged anyone who may have had sex with Rowe between October last year and February to seek health advice.
But the council and police only identified him as a man in his 20s with a Scottish accent. Officials in Scotland later confirmed his name.
Anyone who thought they may have had sex with Rowe was urged to call police, quoting Operation Brickhill. But Rowe was freed on bail by the Sussex force until April 5 before being re-bailed twice, until May and then until last Friday. They launched a major search for him after he vanished. After Rowe’s arrest on Friday, Sussex Police said: “Police investigating allegations that men were deliberately infected with HIV have charged a man. “Daryll Rowe was arrested by Northumbria Police on December 23 after joint working by Northumbria Police, Police Scotland and Sussex Police. “Anyone who thinks they may have had a sexual encounter with this man is urged to come forward.” People with health worries can call the Terrence Higgins Trust on 01273 764200 or the Claude Nicol Centre in Brighton on 01273 523388.