EDINBURGH, Scotland | A Scottish hairdresser whom police said deliberately tried to infect 10 men with HIV has been jailed for at least 12 years, The Scotsman reports.
Daryll Rowe became the first man in the country to be found guilty of intentionally setting out to spread the virus after meeting men on Grindr. Branded “grotesque” and a “sociopath” by his victims, the 27-year-old was convicted this month of 10 charges: five of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and five of attempting to do so, The Scotsman reports.
Rowe, wearing a gray suit and open-collared white shirt, showed no emotion as he was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 12 years at Brighton Crown Court. Judge Christine Henson sentencing, referred to his crimes as a “determined hateful campaign of sly violence.”
“You are the first individual to be sentenced for Section 18 offenses in the context of infecting others with HIV,” she said, according to The Scotsman. “With the full knowledge of the risk you posed to others and the legal implications of engaging in risky sexual practices, you embarked on a deliberate campaign to infect other men with the HIV virus. Unfortunately for five of the men you met, your campaign was successful.”
One victim he thought he was going to die when he found out he had the virus, while another told of the “shattering effect” it had on him and his family, believing, “it was a life-long sentence, which would eventually kill me off” because of the stigma surrounding the disease.
The court heard a psychiatric report found Rowe’s crimes were carried out with a “significant degree of rage, control, sadism and violence,” The Scotsman reports.
