Scotland - Convictions for HIV Exposure
posted: 20/01/2010
UPDATED Friday 26 February : He was sentenced to 10 years jail.
UPDATED Thursday 18 March 2010: He appealed the 10 year jail sentence, according to a report on the BBC.
UPDATED Tuesday 13 April 2010: He has lodged an appeal against the length of his sentence after his first appeal was rejected, according to a report in the Aberdeen Evening Express.
The first ever conviction anywhere in the UK, just for exposing someone to HIV without passing on HIV, has happened at the High Court, Edinburgh, in Scotland. The law in England and Wales is different and does not allow prosecutions for exposing someone to HIV.
A 41 year-old man pleaded guilty to four charges of ‘culpable and reckless conduct’ after being accused of not disclosing his HIV status to four women between 2003 and 2008, only one of whom became HIV-positive. There have only been two earlier cases in Scotland, both for actual transmission of HIV.
The case has been widedly reported in both Scottish and English media. While reports on BBC Online, the Scotsman, and STV.tv were somewhat neutral, tabloid coverage has been typically stigmatising, including today's Scottish Sun : "HIV fiend is lowest of the low" ; Scottish Daily Record calls him a "callous predator"; and the UK-wide Daily Express: "HIV rat facing prison for infecting his lover'.
Most of the articles focus on the fact that the 28 year-old woman who became HIV-positive was diagnosed during routine prenatal screening. She subsequently chose to end her twin pregnancy. (With diagnosis and appropriate treatment and care, there is now only a very small chance of babies having HIV). Some reports also refer to a fifth woman who was diagnosed alongside Devereaux in 1994.
'Denial' defence mocked
All of the articles mock Mr Devereaux's defence that he was in denial, because the prosecution produced evidence that he was taking antiretrovirals. It is in fact quite common for people to have a serious illness such as HIV and yet have difficulty accepting the reality of diagnosis and its consequences.
HIV sector responses
BBC Online has a second report focusing on reaction in the HIV sector, concerned that this conviction will lead to more arrests for non-disclosure without transmission in Scotland.
Deborah Jack, chief executive of the National Aids Trust (NAT), said:
"It is totally unjust to single out people with an HIV diagnosis for punishment for unprotected sex - we all need to be wiser and safer, looking after ourselves and those we have sex with. Most HIV transmissions are from people who have never had an HIV test. We recommend that the Scottish Executive change the law so that people with HIV cannot be charged with culpable and reckless conduct if no transmission took place."
Roy Kilpatrick, chief executive of HIV Scotland, said:
"We are particularly worried about the fact that prosecutions were brought in this case in respect of three sexual partners of Mr Devereaux who had not contracted HIV. We recognise that the primary motivation for bringing this prosecution must have been the actual transmission of HIV and that the prosecution would have felt it necessary to put the full context before the court. However, it would be alarming if the charges brought in this case open the door for future prosecutions in cases where no harm has been caused."
He said that bringing prosecutions where no harm had been caused would stigmatise people living with HIV. He called for a clear statement of Scottish HIV prosecution policy.
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On sentencing and imprisonment
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