'Sadist' hairdresser gets life sentence in prison for deliberately infecting Grindr lovers with HIV
A British hairdresser, Daryll Rowe, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Wednesday for deliberately infecting at least five men with HIV, after he met them on an online dating app — Grindr.
The 27-year-old's conviction is the first of its kind in the United Kingdom. Rowe was given the prison sentence after he was found guilty of unleashing a "cynical campaign" to infect as many as he possibly could. He reportedly chose Grind to target men he wanted to infect, according to reports.
Rowe reportedly plotted to infect people with HIV in a "revenge" attempt after he was diagnosed with the serious infection, which is potentially fatal. After the diagnosis, the hairdresser consistently denied that he was infected with HIV.
Police have reportedly said that Rowe has refused to accept treatment for HIV.
While announcing her verdict, Judge Christine Henson, told Rowe on Wednesday: "Psychological reports show your offending is associated with a significant degree of rage, control and sadism.”
"You pose a high serious risk of harm to gay men. You are highly predatory controlling and manipulative," Judge Henson added. Rowe was sentenced after a seven-week trial in court, where it was revealed that he used to send taunting messages to his victims after he met several of them online, according to the New York Post.
Reports state Rowe was found guilty of at least ten charges of deliberately attempting to infect men he met on Grindr with HIV between October 2015 and January 2016. The chief executive of The National AIDS Trust, Deborah Gold, said: "The Rowe case is the first of its kind in the UK, and is an exceptionally rare thing to encounter.”
"To intentionally transmit HIV is a deplorable crime which one could only commit by avoiding one’s own crucial treatment," Gold added.
Rowe's cruel ploy to infect men was discovered after his victims began falling sick. At least two of them approached the authorities, raising an alarm.
Speaking to The Guardian, one of his victims lamented about his life and said that he would have rather had Rowe murder him than give him a life like this. While his tenth victim was not infected, he did say that Rowe was a 'menace to society'. Other victims also mentioned how they had contemplated suicide, having suffered physical and psychological damage from the incident.