Man who ‘recklessly’ infected two women with HIV fails in attempt to have jail term reduced

A man who was convicted of “recklessly” infecting two women with HIV in the first case of its kind in this country has had his 10-year prison sentence upheld by the Court of Appeal.

At his trial it emerged that the man knew he had HIV and had been warned not to have unprotected sex and to take his medication. Evidence was put forward that suggested he had not been taking his medication before having unprotected sex on multiple occasions with each of the two women.

At an appeal hearing on Friday, Paul Greene SC, for the appellant, said that the fundamental point in the appeal was that the sentence was excessive given that his client’s actions were reckless but not intentional. He said there had been a “happy relationship” with the victims at one stage and there is no indication that he was trying to cause them serious harm.

Dominic McGinn SC for the Director of Public Prosecutions said that the sentencing judge had made no error in principle and therefore the appeal court has no jurisdiction to interfere. He said the sentencing judge was clearly aware that the offence was reckless rather than intentional but that the level of recklessness was particularly high. The judge, counsel said, had set the sentence accordingly.

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Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy, presiding at the three-judge appeal court, said on Friday that the appellant “must have known” that his failure to take medication or use protection put his victims at risk. The level of recklessness in the case was high, he said, and the 10-year sentence was therefore proportionate and not unduly severe. He dismissed the appeal. The court earlier this year also dismissed an appeal against the man’s conviction.

The now 31-year-old – who is from Africa and lived in Dublin and who cannot be identified to protect the identity of his victims – was convicted of causing serious harm to the women, contrary to Section 4 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, after he had unprotected sex with them on dates between November 2009 and June 2010.

The circuit court trial heard that at around the same time in 2009 the man commenced relationships with both women, who described how he was “reluctant” to use contraception and that they had unprotected sex.

A later analysis of the man’s medical records revealed he had been diagnosed as HIV positive in 2008 and had received treatment, advice, and medication.

He was advised against engaging in unprotected sex and was prescribed anti-retroviral medication, which would have eliminated his symptoms and rendered him non-infectious. However, the trial heard that the man had a positive viral load when he was screened in 2010, suggesting he had not been taking his medication.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges but the jury did not accept his plea and he was jailed following a trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court before Judge Martin Nolan in July 2018.

At the trial, the two women revealed in their victim impact statements that the man would tell people to stay away from them because they had the virus.

One of the victims said he “began to tell me repeatedly that nobody would want me” after her diagnosis. She said this was the reason she married him.

The second victim said she was close to overdosing on her HIV medication and found it hard to get out of bed when she was first diagnosed. She said when she drank, she got drunk and “on a few occasions I tried to walk out in front of cars”.