He hides his identity as his true personality began to be exposed during his trial He deceived those men into believing he was HIV negative, reassuring those he was intimate with.' 'Unfortunately for many of the men he met his campaign was successful. If a victim refused to agree to unprotected sex he could simply reach for one of his carefully torn condoms, hoodwinking his unsuspecting victim into thinking he was having safe sex.Ĭaroline Carberry QC told Lewes Crown Court: 'Daryll Rowe embarked on a cynical and deliberate campaign to infect other men with HIV, having high risk sexual intercourse knowing he was highly infectious. He bought his own condoms and 'sabotaged' them so his victims wouldn't notice the damage and he could continue to spread the virus.Ī pattern was set. I got you.'Īlive to the possibility men could insist on safe sex, Rowe decided to leave nothing to chance. Rowe quickly devised an alternative plan and as he put on the condom in the dark bedroom he ripped off the end before the pair had intercourse.ĭays later, Rowe began taunting and abusing the man by text message and told him: 'I ripped the condom. The US-born man had to forcefully push Rowe off of him on more than one occasion when he tried to have sex without protection. Rowe's second Grindr victim insisted on safe sex with a condom. 'By bravely giving evidence in the trial, it sends a clear message that despite the complex and highly sensitive nature of such a case, the police and prosecutors will not shy away from investigating allegations of deliberate HIV transmission in order to keep people safe.'
It will bring some closure to the victims who have been very strong and supportive through the investigation. Speaking after his convictions today, Detective Inspector Andy Wolstenholme said: 'This trial is the first time that a person has been charged and convicted of deliberately infecting others with HIV in the country.
Rowe would exchange a series of messages with the men before meeting up with them at their homes where they would have sex. He then failed to attend further follow-up appointments in September and October 2015 because he had already moved to Brighton to embark on his plan.Īlthough he initially had nowhere to live or stay, he began to make contact with men on the gay dating app, Grindr. I was always trying to run away from that lifestyle, that's why I always insisted on condoms.' 'My dad was a junkie and she was a very young mother. The extent of Rowe's malicious scheme to take 'revenge' on the gay community following his diagnosis was laid bare in a six-week trial.Īfter the verdict, one of Rowe's victims anonymously told the BBC that he was driven to the verge of suicide when he found out he was infected after both his parents died of AIDS. He was found guilty of five counts of causing grievous bodily harm and five of attempting to cause GBH yesterday in a prosecution hailed as the first of its kind.Ī court heard he infected the men in a 'revenge' campaign on the gay community after he was diagnosed with HIV.
Daryll Rowe has been convicted of GBH for deliberately infecting men with HIV through unprotected sex and by sabotaging condomsĪ victim of hairdresser Daryll Rowe, who has been convicted of giving men HIV in a landmark case, has revealed the devastating moment he discovered he had been infected.ĭaryll Rowe, 27, originally from Edinburgh, infected five men from the Brighton area and the North East with HIV while five others narrowly escaped contracting the life-changing virus.