Hairdresser found guilty of deliberately infecting his lovers with HIV
By Joshua Haigh
Hairdresser Daryll Rowe has been found guilty of deliberately infecting Grindr dates with HIV.
The 26-year-old was found guilty of five counts of grievous bodily harm (GBH) and five counts of attempted GBH at the Lewes Crown Court yesterday (November 15).
According to the BBC, Rowe had relations with eight men in Brighton throughout 2015, before moving to Northumberland and having unprotected sex with another two men in 2016.
Rowe stood trail last month, and the court heard that Rowe met a number of men on Grindr and pressured them into having unprotected sex. He also sabotaged the condoms he used when they refused.
Following his encounters with dates, Rowe sent them taunting text messages. One read: “Maybe you have the fever cos I came inside you and I have HIV, LOL. Whoops!”
Following another date, he revealed his HIV status and admitted to ripping the condom before calling the victim “stupid” for not knowing. After being bailed by police, Rowe fled to the North East, where he deliberately attempted to infect more victims before police caught him with a rucksack full of sabotaged condoms.
During the trial, Judge Christine Hensen granted the victims lifelong anonymity and allowed them to testify behind a screen. Meanwhile, Rowe claimed to believe months of drinking his own urine would cure him of the virus.
Rowe reportedly began infecting lovers with HIV from October 2015 after finding out he had contracted it from an ex-boyfriend in April of the same year.
The case is the the UK’s first conviction for deliberately infecting others with HIV.
He will be sentenced on January 29.
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