Hairdresser ‘deliberately infected lovers he met on Grindr with HIV’

Daryll Rowe allegedly sent messages taunting partners

Daryll Rowe is on trial at Lewes crown court (Facebook)

A hairdresser deliberately tried to infect his sexual partners with HIV after meeting them on dating app Grindr, a jury has been told.

Daryll Rowe, 26, is accused of telling his lovers he did not have the virus and insisting they had unprotected sex with him or tampering with condoms.

He then sent messages to partners, including one which read: “I have HIV LOL.”

Mr Rowe denies infecting four men and attempting to infect six further men in the Brighton areas between October 2015 and December 2016.

Police officers uncovered an opened box of condoms in Mr Rowe’s possessions in which the ends of the condoms had been cut, before being put back into the wrappers.

The defendant was diagnosed with HIV at a sexual health clinic in April 2015 while he was living in Edinburgh.

Prosecution Caroline Carberry QC told Lewes crown court: “He was warned he could be prosecuted for passing [HIV] on or even putting someone at risk of contracting HIV from him.”

Doctors said he was “coping well” with the diagnosis but they had become concerned when he refused antiretroviral drugs which slow the growth of HIV and lowers the risk of transmitting the virus.

“He told his doctors he was not going to engage in any unprotected sex again, but failed to attend further appointments in Edinburgh and by this time he had moved to Brighton,” Ms Carberry said.

Mr Rowe then met several men on Grindr who he went on to infect or try to infect with HIV.

One partner, who had tested negative for HIV the morning he met Mr Rowe, was diagnosed as HIV positive two months later, but had not had intercourse with anyone else during that period.

Another man had only one sexual partner before Mr Rowe and considered him to be his boyfriend.

In a phone call to another partner, he allegedly said: “I ripped the condom. You’re so stupid. You didn’t even know.”

The defendant denied being HIV positive when he was arrested but police obtained his medical records.

“He engaged in deliberately risky sexual conduct knowing he was highly infectious and failing to take medication that would make him less infectious, lying to every single one of these 10 men about his HIV status, sabotaging condoms and sending text messages making it clear he knew exactly what he was doing,” Ms Carberry said.

The case continues.