HIV-positive man allegedly cut tips off condoms to infect dates he met online

A Scottish hairdresser who was accused of deliberately infecting men he met online with HIV appeared in Lewes Crown Court in England this week, according to the Scottish Sun.

Prosecutor Caroline Carberry claims Daryll Rowe, who was diagnosed with HIV while living in Brighton in 2015, gave four men he met on Grindr the virus and attempted to infect six more between October 2015 and December 2016.

Rowe, 26, is accused of aggressively insisting upon having unprotected sex with his victims, lying about his HIV status and tampering with condoms if his sexual partner still insisted on using them.

See photos of Rowe heading to court:

Carberry told the court that Rowe would text his victims disturbing messages after they had intercourse, revealing he had the disease and taunting them about becoming infected.

His first alleged victim claimed he received a text from Rowe saying, "maybe you have the fever cos I came inside you and I have HIV LOL. Oops!"

The court also heard that Rowe called one of his victims and laughed over the phone as he taunted the unnamed man about his potential diagnosis. The victim later tested positive for an HIV strain similar to Rowe's.

Another man who had sex with Rowe said he insisted they use a condom but later found the contraceptive in the sink with the end cleanly cut off.

"He was extremely concerned and upset about this and repeatedly asked Daryll Rowe whether he was clean, which he said he was," Carberry told the court. "That condom did not split accidentally."

“With full knowledge, putting others at risk, he embarked on what was a cynical and deliberate campaign to infect other men with the HIV virus," she continued. "Unfortunately for some of the men he met, his campaign was successful."

Sussex police first arrested Rowe in February 2016 after two men who were diagnosed as HIV-positive in Brighton said they believed they had been infected by a man with a Scottish accent.

After he was brought in for questioning, Rowe told police that he did not have HIV and denied having sex with the two men. When Rowe failed to answer bail on November 18, a nationwide manhunt ensued until he was discovered in Wallsend, England, living under a false name.

Rowe faces ten charges, including four counts of causing grievous bodily harm and six counts of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm, all of which he denies.

The trial, which is due to last another six weeks, continues.