HIV group volunteer shock at diagnosis

Victim was careful, court told

AN ALLEGED victim of a Scot accused of deliberately infecting partners with HIV had never had unprotected sex and was a volunteer with an Aids charity, a court heard yesterday.

Daryll Rowe, 26, from Edinburgh, is accused of setting out to spread the virus by claiming he was free of the disease and pressuring lovers into unprotected sex.

One alleged victim, a volunteer with an HIV and Aids charity, told police in his interview that he and Rowe found each other on hook-up app Grindr and met for sex in December 2015.

He went for an HIV screening when he fell ill within weeks. When he learned he was positive, he said: “Impossible, I haven’t had any unprotected sex.”

Lewes Crown Court in Sussex heard Rowe had used his own condom, but couldn’t remember him disposing of it. When told about his diagnosis, he said Rowe insisted he’d had a recent test and was clear.

The man said he found Rowe saying he was HIV positive in comments on a YouTube video. He claimed they were posted eight months before Rowe told him he was free of the virus.

Rowe, who lived in Brighton and in north-east England, denies five counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and five of attempted grievous bodily harm in relation to 10 men.

The trial continues.